Fallout: A handful of dust
by Journeyman-93
Summary: Set just before the New Vegas storyline. Five misfits are trying to find work and running from the Legion. A former NCR soldier, a ghoul, a vault dweller, a former guard and a fixer. As they try to survive, their pasts catch up to them. Between a long road to safety, the Legion assassins chasing them and a suicide mission waiting for them, their chances of survival are remote.
1. The Misfits

_**This will be a short story, like **_**Powerless**_**. I've been attempting to write a **_**Fallout **_**story for some time, so I hope this works. This is set in the Mojave Wasteland, but elements from Fallout 3, mostly guns, will turn up. It's set before the Second Battle for Hoover Dam and features several OCs as protagonists and antagonists.**_

* * *

_"I will show you fear in a handful of dust."_

_T.S. Eliot_

* * *

_"War… war never changes. _

_Since the world was ravaged by atomic flames, humanity has desperately clung to life. But war never changes, and the factions that have arisen from the ashes of the old world seek to claim the new world for their own. Some intend to bring order and law, others intend to conquer and control._

_The Mojave was spared some of the horrors of nuclear war, thanks to the preparations of the enigmatic Mr House, who was ready for Armageddon, and protected Las Vegas against the Great War. Fallout still reached the Mojave Wasteland though, and so did war._

_The New California Republic, ever expanding, became aware of the city untouched by the Great War and sought to annex it. But another group had set their eyes on the prize: an army of slaves and warriors calling themselves Caesar's Legion, following the beliefs of the ancient Roman Empire. _

_The NCR fought a bloody battle against the Legion, and managed to repel them at a great cost. Now the Legion bides its time, before it strikes again, and the NCR prepares for that day._

_The war still continues, and its casualties mount. Some die, others are shaken, and some are broken. _

_Leaving behind his life in the NCR, feeling that he has been misled and betrayed, a former soldier walks the roads of the Mojave with four companions, brought together by accidents and necessity. These five wanderers may not play a part as significant as the Courier's, but they have a war of their own to fight, a war for survival."_

* * *

"I can't see a fucking thing." That was the third time the man with the power fist had said that.

"Quit griping." The dark haired woman muttered.

"I like griping."

They'd been running for two days now and had stopped in a cave overlooking some part of the western wasteland.

"Suppose they come for us?" The third speaker had a gravelly voice. Most ghouls did.

"In this dust?" The man gestured. "We're well hidden. Unless that little computer of yours gives us away." He directed that comment at the second woman. "Does it play games?"

"For the last time; no it doesn't!" The woman sighed. If anyone stuck out like a sore thumb, she did. It wasn't just the vault 117 suit; it was the computer on her wrist. She referred to it as a pip-boy. Emily was shy and didn't know much about the outside world. She the shortest member of the group, with auburn hair tied back in a ponytail, blue eyes and freckles. "It plays music though."

Mark would never have let her join them, but she had better hacking skills than the lot of them and was actually a good shot with the scoped laser rifle she carried around. She was also a skilled medic, as much as the others hated to admit it, they'd be dead without her.

Then there was the ghoul, Ghost, who knew a trick or ten about stealth. He carried a silenced sniper rifle and a .22 silenced pistol. He wore dark leather armour, with an assortment of tools for picking locks and a lot of knives.

"Is this cave safe?" Jin asked. He was their handyman, skilled with his tools, he specialised in fixing guns. Strangely, he favoured a power fist over guns. He was of Asian descent, with cropped hair and a bandana. He had the arm from a T51-B suit as the right arm of his customised metal armour.

"I checked it." Mara stated. "About that; can someone else go first for once?"

"You're the one with the shotgun." Mark said.

"Fair enough." Mara checked her weapon, a modified pump action shotgun. She also wore heavy armour, reinforced combat armour. Mara was dark skinned, with short hair and dark eyes. She had worked for the Crimson Caravans. She'd run off to deal with some Fiends preparing an ambush ahead of a caravan. Unfortunately, more had come from behind and had decimated the caravan, which had been the end of Mara's career.

Finally, there was Mark. He was the unofficial leader or their ragtag group. He had worked for the NCR, but a life following orders hadn't suited him. He still wore the long trench coat that Rangers liked, but had removed the heavy armour and NCR symbols. He carried an assault carbine, modified with extended magazines, along with his trusty nine millimetre handgun.

So he'd left the NCR and had decided to travel. The next thing he knew was that he'd picked up an over inquisitive and chatty vault dweller, run into a moody mercenary armed with a shotgun and had employed Jin to repair their weapons.

He'd known Ghost for a while; they'd been drinking buddies when Mark had served with the NCR. When he'd decided to become a freelancer, Ghost had offered to help.

Next stupid move? He'd gone and pissed off Caesar's Legion. Really smart.

"Does anybody want some music?" Emily inquired.

"No." Jin muttered.

"Not a chance." Mara scowled.

Ghost didn't say anything. Nothing really irritated him.

"If you want." Mark shrugged.

Emily smiled and pressed some buttons on her pip-boy, tuning it into the New Vegas radio.

Mark could see a few subtle grimaces between Jin and Mara.

The simple fact of the matter was that they were misfits; they were all out of place.

Mark trusted Ghost though; the ghoul was solid and hated the Legion as much as he did. Despite her curiosity and naivety, Mark had to admit that he also liked Emily. She was actually intelligent, not to mention easy on the eyes.

Jin and Mara were probably worried that the music would give them away. But they were off the road, and even the Legionaries didn't like to travel at night.

"What do we all want right now?" Mark asked.

"Penthouse suite." Mara murmured.

"Pretty girls." Jin answered.

"Booze." Ghost grunted.

"Nuka-Cola." Emily smiled. "What about you?"

"Me?" Mark considered. "I want to go to Vegas."

"Weren't you stationed there?" Mara inquired.

"No, I was stationed along the highway."

"We might be safer in Vegas." Ghost said. "NCR protection. The Legion doesn't get too close either."

"Is it true that they turned an old vault into a hotel?" Emily asked.

"You're homesick?" Ghost frowned.

"I don't want to go back." Emily said. "But I'm still not keen on open spaces. I feel like I'm going to fall into the sky."

Jin and Ghost glanced at each other and shrugged. They all thought that they were all crazy.

"That computer shows maps, doesn't it?" Mark switched topics.

"Yes, it does." Emily showed him. "We're here."

"And the nearest town is Nipton." Mark couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Is that bad?" Emily asked.

"It's not the classiest, or nicest of places." Mark explained. "Better than going off road, I suppose."

"What's it like?" Emily asked eagerly.

"You'll know soon enough." Mark wasn't in the mood for twenty thousand questions. "Get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

* * *

Nipton was a small town, nothing more than a waypoint for respectable people.

The town made some of its money off trade, which wasn't a bad thing.

The rest came from prostitutes, which wasn't good. Mark hated the fact that some NCR troops used the town to sleep with the prostitutes. He never had, he had standards. He still did, even if he had left the NCR.

According to rumours, the Mayor was also providing services for the Powder Gangers, members of a chain gang who had taken over the NCRCF.

They weren't stopping in the town, stopping put them at risk.

Mark could see some of the Power Gangers, still wearing their uniforms, around the town.

They could tell that he was ex-NCR. He still walked like a soldier.

A few of them were glaring at him. "Nice gun, killer." One of them jeered.

Mark ignored him; he didn't want to waste bullets on these convicts.

The Gangers glared, the prostitutes tried to look alluring.

Mark wouldn't have called them pretty, painted was more accurate, they were plastered with enough makeup to cover a small house.

"They seem to like you, Mark." Emily said.

"It's a façade." Ghost rasped. "They're looking for customers." Emily looked confused so he explained. "They're paid for sex."

"That's… debased." Emily grimaced. "Who would want to do that?"

"You'd be surprised by what people do for money." Ghost told her. "You get killers, cons, you name it."

"Bet you wish you'd stayed in that vault now." Mara smirked.

"No." Emily muttered. "I don't."

Mark wondered about that. The girl was young, only eighteen, and innocent compared to most people. But there was a haunted look in her eyes. She had been running from something when they'd met.

Maybe she was just a runaway who had hated her home enough to walk out into the wastes.

"Still scared of that big open sky?" Jin grinned. "Can you feel the vertigo?"

"Please don't." Emily grimaced. "I'm getting used to it."

"Suppose the world turned a bit." Jin continued. "You'd be falling up into the clouds."

"I'm new to this." Emily sighed. "But I'm not stupid."

"Knock it off, you two." Mark ordered. "We're attracting enough attention as it is."

"Sorry." Emily looked down at her feet.

Nipton wasn't very big; they were leaving it within minutes. The Powder Gangers decided not to tangle with them. Even though they had dynamite, the five misfits were well armed and could fight.

They had all killed. The Legion wasn't chasing them because they had called them rude names; they had killed nine of their soldiers and had freed their slaves.

The road led them onwards, towards a corner that curved left.

Mark kept an eye on the slopes flanking the road. This was a good place for an ambush.

"Two." Ghost, despite the rotting of his flesh, had keen eyes. "One at twelve o'clock, the other at three."

"It's only nine in the morning." Emily glanced at her pip-boy.

"I mean that there's one in front of us and one on the right." Ghost explained patiently. "They look like Viper Gunslingers."

"All yours, Ghost." Mark decided.

Ghost took aim with his rifle. The rifle spat twice. "Easy."

There was a crack and something hit the dirt near Mara's feet.

"Take cover!" Mark shouted, heading right and pulling out his carbine.

There were more than two of them. Mark could have kicked himself for not checking.

Mara hit the dirt next to him, hiding behind the same rock. She couldn't hit anything at this range unless she used her sidearm.

"Ghost," Mark called. "Where are they?"

"In the road ahead," Ghost yelled. "And on the ridge."

"Mara, Jin, you're with me." Mark hoped that the Jackals couldn't hear over their own gunfire. "Ghost, you and Emily keep us covered. On my mark."

Emily and Ghost waited, tensed like coiled springs.

"Three…" Mark held up his fingers. "Two… one, go!"

Emily and Ghost opened fire, the sniper rifle spat quietly, the laser was less subtle.

Mara ran out first, Mark followed and opened fire as he ran. Jin drew his sidearm, a 32 revolver with a short barrel, and fired too.

They sprinted into cover behind a wrecked truck. Mark was in range now. He reloaded and covered Jin and Mara.

A flash of red hit one of the gunslingers; he went down with a burning hole in his chest.

Mara sprinted forwards and fired her shotgun. Another Viper hit the ground, riddled with slugs.

One of them turned to shoot at Mara, only to have his jaw, and most of his face, broken by Jin's power fist.

Bullets from Mark's carbine found their target and another Viper screamed as the rounds tore through his chest.

One of their attackers tried to flee, but Ghost simply shot him in the back of the head.

Another boom from the shotgun and the fight was over.

"That was exciting." Mara smirked as she reloaded. She seemed to enjoy fighting.

"Ammunition?" Jin asked. They had to be careful, especially with the bigger calibres and micro-fusion cells.

"Some of them were using the same rounds." Ghost turned over one of the bodies and took a magazine off the body. "Thanks buddy."

"I can recycle a few cells." Emily said. "I've got enough anyway."

"Us: eight." Mara stated. "Vipers: zero. I call that a win."

Ghost turned over another body and took the bottle caps. It wasn't a pretty way to find currency, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

It was a vicious world out there. The Vipers wouldn't have hesitated to do the same to them.

"Only forty-three caps." Ghost muttered. "A bottle of sarsaparilla and a brahmin steak."

"Or some bullets." Jin added.

"Not some Nuka-Cola?" Emily asked.

"Come on." Mark told them. "We can't linger, they might have friends out there."

"You heard the boss." Ghost agreed. "Let's get moving." Ghost gave the others some distance before speaking. "At least they can fight."

"You don't trust them?"

"Trust can get you killed these days." Ghost muttered. "I mean look at me. I trusted somebody until they locked me in a radioactive hole to die."

That was why he called himself Ghost. It was like he was back from the dead. He didn't remember his real name or where he was from. Ghost had stuck.

"Emily's too naïve to betray us."

"You think so?" Ghost challenged. "I've seen the way you look at her."

Mark didn't take the bait. Maybe the other two weren't trustworthy, but Emily needed them and they needed her. Like it or not, they needed Jin and Mara too.

"I'd rather have them trust us." Mark said. "We need the extra guns, not to mention their skills."

"It's not like we can pay them any time soon."

"Once we reach Vegas, we can go looking for some work with better pay." Mark told him. "Hell, maybe I could join up with the NCR again."

"They were going to kick you out." Ghost reminded him.

"Good point." Mark shrugged. "Guns for hire then?"

"Works for me."

"Then that's what we'll be." Mark agreed. "Mercenaries. Once we get the Legion off our tails."

* * *

_**Before you go and check the Fallout wiki, I made vault 117 up. It has something to do with the story. Also for the timeline, this is just before the Courier is shot and left for dead, which is why Nipton is still standing.**_

_**Just in case you ask; I support the NCR and fight Caesar's Legion. **_


	2. Sentries and watchers

_**I would like reviews for this story. The number of views is a little disappointing and I'd like to know how I'm doing. **_

_**Just in case you haven't read my other stories, gunfights aren't my speciality.**_

* * *

"Remind me," Mark requested. "What's the nearest settlement?"

"A place called Novac." Emily glanced at her pip-boy. "Is that good?"

"It's not a bad place." He glanced over his shoulder. "Are you finished yet?"

"Just about." Jin caught up with them, carrying bits of metal, wires and a fission battery. "I can rig something with this stuff."

They'd stopped near the road, near an old campsite. The occupants were gone, dead or driven off a while ago.

"Ghost, can you see anything?" Mara called.

"No." Ghost replied. He had climbed onto the ridge to keep watch. They were hoping to come across a travelling merchant.

Not to rob him, they needed supplies. Most caravans had armed escorts anyway and they didn't want to waste precious ammunition.

Emily was knelt down, tinkering with her rifle and some MFCs. Jin was working with the scrap and junk they had recovered. Along with fixing their weapons, he could make traps.

Mark checked his carbine; any negligence could result in a jam. That was often fatal.

He'd seen before when serving with the NCR. A soldier's rifle had jammed, as he had tried to fix the problem a legionnaire had run up and decapitated him.

"You know that laser of yours." Mara gestured at Emily's rifle. "If one of those was lying around, why didn't you try looking for a plasma rifle?"

"They're harder to maintain." Emily explained. "Much harder to build too."

"Harder to build?" Mara repeated.

"I didn't find this gun." Emily said. "I built it, just before I… left the vault."

Mark noticed the pause. She was avoiding something.

Well, everybody in the Mojave had something they didn't want to discuss.

It was another hot day. Hot was an understatement, overpowering was more accurate.

The ground was baking, the clouds offered no shade and the air was on fire.

Mark took a swig of water, passing the bottle to Jin before he had to fight the urge to drink more.

"If you don't like the heat, maybe we should go to Point Lookout." Mara suggested.

"Sure, a radioactive swamp full of murderous mutants." Mark shook his head. "Not to mention that it's too far to walk."

"Well, when you put it like that." Mara shrugged. "Just a thought."

"We had artificial climates in the vault." Emily spoke up suddenly. "Nothing like this though."

"Caravan approaching." Ghost shouted.

Mark picked up his gear and walked out into the road. He could see the caravan, a couple of pack brahmin, a trader and the mercenaries escorting him.

They were either jumpy or had the wrong idea. A couple of bullets hit the road, close to Mark's feet.

"Don't shoot!" Mark shouted at them. "We're not raiders!"

"Yeah right!" One of the mercs shouted back. "As if we're falling for that."

"I'm serious!"

"So are we, open fire!"

"Wait!" The trader ordered. "Don't shoot. You two, go and check."

Two of the mercs moved forwards, weapons aimed at Mark. One had a lever-action shotgun, the other one was carrying an old assault rifle.

They approached Mark carefully, one of them gestured with his rifle.

Mark showed them his carbine and put it on the ground. He raised his hands.

"There's three more." He told them. He didn't tell them about Ghost, just in case the mercs decided to attack. "They won't fire."

They could hear him, taking their cue. Emily, Mara and Jin stepped out. Holding up their weapons, fingers off the triggers.

Ghost stayed up on the ridge, out of sight, with his rifle loaded but his finger off the trigger.

"If they wanted to kill us, they have the firepower to do it." The merc leader told his men. "Let 'em go." The mercs lowered their weapons.

The trader approached nervously, leading his brahmin towards them. "Sorry about that." He apologised. "We didn't expect to find people on this road."

"Never hurts to be prepared." Mark accepted. "Ghost, you can come down now. I kept a sniper on the ridge, just in case you got trigger happy."

"Smart." The trader shrugged. "What do you need?"

"Food, water and ammunition."

"I've got food and water." The trader said. "What kind of ammunition? I'm not carrying grenades or rockets."

"Mostly bullets. We need five and three-oh-eights, along with twelve gauge." Mark explained. "Do you have any MF cells?"

"Three." The trader removed a box marked _ammo C _from the lead brahmin. "I've got those calibres too. Not many, but it should fill up your magazines." He held out the box. Mark took one of the five millimetre magazines and checked it. The bullets were genuine.

"How much?"

"Five hundred for the lot."

"That's a bit steep." Jin raised his eyebrows. "We're a bit short."

"Not my problem."

"We're just trying to get by," Jin persisted. "Same as you. Come on! Help a few guys out. We're just trying to get to Vegas."

The trader considered. Jin was a smooth talker; he had a knack with words. When words failed, he had his power fist.

"How many caps have you got?" The trader asked.

"Three hundred and seventy-two." That wasn't a lie.

"I'll give you half for two hundred caps." That was a better deal. It left them with enough caps to but some food and water.

"Deal." Mark agreed, handing over the caps.

* * *

With mostly full magazines and stomachs, they took to the road again. It was still blisteringly hot though. They were all sunburnt and sweating.

"Just another glorious Mojave day." Ghost muttered, holding his rifle against his shoulder, the barrel pointing at the sky. "It's not doing my skin, what's left of it, any good."

"We're almost there." Mara had her shotgun balanced across her shoulders, like a water carrier using a pole to carry buckets.

"He's got a point." Jin wiped the sweat from his brow. "This heat is murder."

"Which do you prefer?" Mark asked Emily. "The vault or this?"

"I'm not sure." Emily shaded her eyes with her hand, staring into the distance. "It's prettier out here. Slightly radioactive and very hot. But it's nice."

"And the vault?"

"It was colder." Emily said. "Darker too. It was safe for a while."

"What happened?" Mark asked carefully.

Emily's face fell. "It turned into hell."

Mark had no idea what that meant. He decided not to ask, at least not now.

Ghost was right. It was a good day, despite the heat, they should savour it. Right now, they weren't being shot at and the Legion was behind them. This was a good day.

"You know," Mara smiled. "I think I'll join you in having an ice cold Nuka-Cola once we reach Novac."

"Me too." Mark agreed.

"Sarsaparilla for me." Jin added.

"As long as it's cold, I don't care." Ghost stated. "But I could do with a good beer."

The five of them, walking along the boiling and broken road, were quite a sight. An ex-NCR Ranger, a ghoul, a vault dweller, a former caravan guard and a mechanic with a pneumatic fist. Heads would turn when they reached Novac.

It was a shame that they were running. Fleeing from the Legion.

For all his training and discipline, it had been Mark who had started it.

A Legion patrol with slaves. One instinctive pull of the trigger and ten of Caesar's troops were dead and he'd lost five new slaves.

And a Legion spy had seen the whole thing, running back to Caesar before anybody could shoot him.

It wasn't very dramatic, but the Legion was ruthless and the five wanderers had made themselves into targets.

Mark didn't think that they would reach Vegas, as skilled and well-armed as they were, they were outmatched and outgunned.

But the Legion was days behind them. They had time.

But time was running out.

And the Legion wasn't the only faction interested in them.

* * *

If Mark had remembered the route, he would have recalled that a Ranger outpost was along their route.

As they had walked along the road, talking about drinks in Novac, a Ranger patrol had seen and photographed them before returning to the outpost.

A message had been sent via radio to Camp McCarran. Before they had walked past the outpost, the message had been delivered to an interested individual.

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter." The single word was spoken by a voice that was commanding and encouraging.

The soldier adjusted his uniform before entering. He saluted to the Commander as soon as he entered.

Commander Halley had a tidy office. It didn't say much about him, he kept very little.

There was an old service rifle mounted on the wall, the NCR flag behind the desk and a medal on the desk. Those were the only souvenirs.

Edward Halley was a tall man in his late forties, with greying hair, no facial hair and stern green eyes. He wasn't as famous as General Oliver or Hsu, but he was well known regardless.

"What is it, private?" Halley asked.

"Outpost Charlie has some news." The private answered. "They spotted some potential candidates."

"More mercenaries?"

"They think so. But they're… varied, sir." The private chose his words carefully.

"How so?"

The private placed a photograph on the desk. Commander Halley examined it carefully.

It showed five people. He recognised one of them.

"Mark Kelson." He murmured.

"Sir?"

"He was a Ranger." Halley stated. "Ran away before you joined the NCR. He was facing dishonourable discharge anyway." He thought in silence for a few moments. "Tell Dunn to approach them. Carefully." He stood up and picked up his jacket. "I'm taking the monorail. I want to reach Camp Golf before the sun sets."

"Yes sir." The private saluted and hurried off.

Commander Halley glanced at the photo again.

Kelson had changed. He didn't look quite like the soldier he had been, even if he still walked like one. Nor did he look like the sinner he had become.

It didn't matter. He needed competent help, regardless of the past, and Kelson could be the only one who could pull this off.

* * *

"What's that?" Emily pointed at something in the distance.

"That's the dinosaur." Mark told her. He was surprised she could see it. Night had fallen. They had rested twice along the road. But they were close enough to risk travelling in the dark.

"What's a dinosaur?" She inquired. "Is it dangerous?"

"They're big reptiles. But they're extinct now." Mark explained. "That's just a model."

"You really don't know what a dinosaur is?" Jin frowned.

"I lived underground for eighteen years." Emily said.

"But you built a laser rifle." Jin pointed at the weapon. "You're not stupid."

"It's weird," she agreed. "I know it is."

Something cracked and a bullet hit the road at Mark's feet.

"Dinosaurs fire bullets?" Emily stared at the hole in the ground.

"No." Ghost stated. "Must be sentry."

"That was a warning shot." A voice called. "Identify yourselves!"

"We're not hostile." Mark shouted back. "We're adventurers, freelancers, whatever you want to call us. We're not hostile either way."

"Fine, walk up here." The voice. "But keep your hands away from your weapons or I'll put bullets through your heads."

The five of them complied. Even if they had been looking for a fight, bullets to the head were far from appealing.

A man with a rifle met them at the gates. He surveyed them and nodded.

"Hmm, more misfits." He commented. "You'll have to forgive Boone, he's a bit aggressive, but he's a brilliant sniper."

"We noticed." Mark muttered. The bullet had been a centimetre away from his toes.

"I guess you're looking for shelter." The man extended his hand. "Name's Manny Vargas, I help to look after this place."

Mark shook his hand. "Mark Kelson." He nodded. "Is there anywhere to stay?"

"Only the motel." Vargas gestured at the building with his thumb.

Emily saw a rusted sign with letters lit up by red lights. It was supposed to say _no vacancy_. But most of the lights were broken, it just said _Novac_.

"So that's why you call this place Novac." She said brightly.

Vargas glanced at her. "A vault dweller." He raised his eyebrows. "Long time since one last came through here." He noticed Ghost and wrinkled his nose for a moment. "Haven't met many ghouls either."

"You got a problem with me?" Ghost challenged.

"No." Vargas shrugged. "It's just that most of the ghouls I've seen were feral."

"I'm housetrained."

"You're not trying to kill me." Vargas accepted. "That's good enough for me. I'll let you go now. Just don't cause any trouble and we'll get along fine."

They never noticed the man smoking a cigarette watching them from the steps of the dinosaur. He noticed them. He'd been ordered to keep an eye out for them.

He didn't need the photograph to confirm who was leading them. He knew.

He watched them walk into the motel and then slipped a radio out of his pocket.

"They're here." He murmured into the device. "Operation Janus can begin."

* * *

_**Like I said, I'd like reviews for this story, otherwise I have no idea how hated or loved it is. **_

_**This is a story meant to be focused on its characters, the five misfits, I hope you like them so far. **_


	3. The mission

It was another boiling hot Mojave day.

Ghost had already found a table in a shady spot and was shuffling his cards when Mark walked out of the motel.

"Blackjack?" He guessed.

"Friendly game." Ghost said. "No point in taking your caps."

Mark sat down opposite him, with his back to the houses on the dinosaur's left.

Ghost handed out the first hands. Mark had twelve.

No point in keeping a hand less than fifteen, he risked another card.

The gamble paid off and he was left with twenty, which beat Ghost's eighteen.

"You have all the luck." Ghost grumbled.

"Got to be good at something." Mark grinned as he waited for the next hand.

"Speaking of which," Ghost glanced at something over Mark's shoulder. "Don't look, but there's a guy behind you."

Mark's grin fell. "What's he doing?"

"Watching." Ghost murmured. "But he looks shifty."

"Legion?"

"They're not very subtle." Ghost dealt the next hand. "But from the way he's standing I'd say he's NCR."

"The way he's standing?"

"Yeah," Ghost stuck to his evidence. "You, Vargas, most NCR soldiers I've seen all stand a bit like you're at attention." Ghost glanced at his cards. "Let's keep playing, see if he leaves or hangs around."

They kept playing, with Ghost keeping an eye on their watcher. He didn't budge; he just stood there, smoking a cigarette.

Emily bounced down to meet them. Despite her slight fear of open spaces, she had a child's curiosity and enjoyed seeing new places.

"Hey," she grinned at them. "It's sunny again."

"It always is." Ghost stated, dealing another hand.

"Someone's having a fire up there." Emily pointed south.

Mark glanced in that direction. He had to fight the urge to stand up and stare.

The smoke was coming from Nipton. He couldn't see it and know for certain, but his guts told him that Nipton was burning.

"Shit!" Ghost hissed. He had come to the same conclusion. "They've sacked it?"

"An example." Mark swallowed. "That's what they want. They'll leave a survivor to spread word of the attack, to scare the NCR and to show how powerful the Legion is."

"So they've… turned Nipton into hell?" Emily breathed.

"Get your stuff." Mark instructed. "We're leaving."

"What about this place?"

"It's better defended." Mark explained. "Helios One is nearby, with an NCR garrison."

"What about our friend there?" Ghost asked quietly.

Emily made the worst mistake possible. She looked right at the cigarette man. "Is he a friend of yours?"

Mark winced. "No, don't look at him!" He hissed. "Just get your gear."

Emily looked put out as she went back to her room.

"What can we do?" Mark asked.

"Ugly option first; I can find a perch and shoot him." Ghost said. "But we'd rather not kill someone in broad daylight."

"I'd rather not kill NCR at all."

"That too. We don't have many friends." Ghost agreed. "So we'll distract him."

"Suits me." Mark nodded. "Get your stuff. I'll work something out."

He waited for Ghost to leave before making his move.

He had no idea that he had just played into the man's hands.

He'd planned to get Vargas or someone to distract the man for a moment. But before he could move, the man had walked right up to him.

"Long time." He commented.

"I don't know you." Mark subtly reached for his pistol.

"You do." The man removed his sunglasses. "Remember me, Sergeant Kelson?"

Mark examined the face, the steely eyes and close cropped fair hair. "Dunn."

"That's right." Sam Dunn slid the glasses into his pocket. "They made me a sarge after you left."

"You didn't come here to chat." Mark stated. "You've been watching me."

"That ghoul friend of yours has sharp eyes." Dunn said. "I need to ask you about the company you keep."

"I'm not NCR, Dunn." Mark muttered. "Leave us alone."

"Since when did you give a damn about anybody but yourself?" Dunn challenged. "I know you too well, Sergeant."

Mark fought to resist the urge to punch Dunn. "What do you want, Dunn?"

"Your attention." Dunn dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. "I have an offer."

"You mean the NCR has an offer." Mark corrected him. "Something they don't want to dirty their hands with."

"Well guessed." Dunn raised his eyebrows. "They said you were sharp."

"Hey!" Mark saw the 10mm pistol touch Dunn's head. He didn't know why Vault-Tec gave it to their security personnel or how Emily had acquired one, but it was out and against Dunn's head. "Back away or I'll shoot."

"In public?" Dunn inquired. "With plenty of witnesses?"

"Erm…" Emily glanced around, her confidence suddenly blunted. "I take it that's bad?"

"Very." Mark sighed. "Put the gun away."

Emily complied and holstered the gun.

"Like I asked; since when?" Dunn smirked.

Mark instinctively balled his hands into fists, but didn't launch any punches.

By now, the others had emerged from the motel and knew that something was wrong.

Ghost was on the stairs, keeping his distance but reaching for a knife. Mara was fingering the grip of her pistol, a deadly 44 Magnum. Jin had fastened the power fist to his arm and was flexing his fingers.

"I seem to be outnumbered." Dunn stated. "But I can assure you that _if _I wanted you dead, a dozen Rangers would have shot you all by now."

"I'm not taking any chances." Ghost growled. "Step away from him."

Dunn shrugged and took a step back. "Can you all just relax?" He smiled. "I'm here with an offer and only one handgun. I'm not looking for a fight, or revenge."

"Then what do you want?" Mara asked tersely.

"The five of you to help the NCR." Dunn answered. "I mean, look at you all, you're clearly worth the caps."

"How many caps are we talking about?" Jin demanded quietly.

"Twenty-five thousand. In NCR currency, caps if you prefer." Dunn answered casually. "That's five thousand each."

Even Emily knew that was a small fortune.

"Before you all agree," Ghost had seen them exchange glances. "That probably means that this is a suicide mission."

"Not for people of your talents." Dunn insisted.

"Flattery won't work on us."

"If the NCR is willing to pay that much," Jin added, "then you _know _how dangerous this _offer _of yours is."

"Walking across the Mojave is just as dangerous." Dunn reasoned. "If not more so. And how much will you be paid for it? You've got no chance of making that much money in Vegas without getting your hands dirty."

"There's a distinct difference between _dirty _and _dead_." Mara frowned.

"Unless you're covered in dirt and dead." Emily said. "Or do you mean figuratively dirty?"

"Figuratively." Mara sighed.

"Listen, Dunn." Mark glared at the man. "We're going to Vegas, we're not interested, and we're not working for the NCR. Get lost and tell your bosses to fuck off."

Dunn let Mark walk a few steps before speaking again. "Suppose there was a chance to see Josh again?"

Mark stopped. Josh was his younger brother; they'd been raised together until Josh had hit eighteen. Mark had gone to join the NCR, but Josh had hung around with a lousy crowd. While Mark had been off patrolling the Mojave, Josh had gone to Vegas and had whittled away his money at the tables and brothels.

He'd vanished not long after going bankrupt. Mark had heard about a shooting in Freeside, something to do with the Omertas, and had guessed that Josh had crossed them and been killed.

"Josh is alive?" He didn't turn around, this could be a trick. But Dunn wasn't the type. He didn't have the greatest poker face either.

"I would say alive and well, but he's not that well." Dunn answered. "He's in Vegas, alive. The Omertas did fire at him, but they didn't kill him."

"Well, thanks for telling me where he is." Mark began to walk again.

"Kelson." Dunn called. "Just hear me out. We're not holding Josh hostage or anything like that, you can see him anytime you like. But we need your help."

"Why us?"

"Don't you mean _me_?"

"Cut the crap, Dunn." Mark turned and glared at him. "Just spit it out."

Dunn considered lighting another cigarette, but decided against it. Mark's sidekicks were jumpy enough to misinterpret the movement and would probably shoot, stab or eviscerate him in seconds.

"Let's talk in private." Dunn gestured at the motel. "Just the six of us."

"Fine." Mark decided. "No promises though and Ghost gets to keep a gun pointed at you the whole time. Clear?"

"Crystal." Dunn smiled. "But I think you'll change your tune once you hear what I have to say."

* * *

As promised, Ghost kept a gun aimed at Dunn's head as he talked.

Dunn seated himself at the table; Ghost leant against the wall behind him with his 22 aimed at the man's head. The others sat around the table, hands within reach of their pistols.

"I'll try to keep this short." Dunn began. "When the NCR moved into Vegas, we needed power from Hoover Dam; therefore we needed to bargain with Mr House."

"If you want us to cross him…" Mara began.

"I don't." Dunn interrupted calmly. "We'll actually be _giving _him some of that power back." He carefully removed a map from his pocket, showing Ghost that it wasn't a gun, and laid it out on the table. "We've detected something here." He pointed at a spot far east of Hoover Dam, near the shore of Lake Mead. "Some sort of power source, but not like any other."

"What makes this one special?" Jin asked. "It's probably just a fusion generator you missed."

"No, this is unique. No radiation." Dunn countered. "Not even wasted heat energy. That made it much harder to find."

"How did you find it then?" Emily inquired.

"One of our scouts made it back. He was part of a team watching the Legion." Dunn explained. "He was the only survivor, not all his dogs are barking. The Legion must have killed his team and driven him crazy in the process. But anyway, he told us about this vault."

"Vault?" Mark frowned.

"Yes, it's a vault." Dunn nodded. "I'm sure you'll feel right at home." He smiled at Emily.

"I hope not." She murmured.

"He described the door, which is unmistakeably a Vault-Tec design." Dunn continued. "If they managed to make some kind of new power source or reactor, then we've got to have it. It could help us to defeat the Legion. Mr House won't be bothered; we wouldn't need Hoover Dam with this thing."

"Assuming that it's what you think it is." Mark folded his arms. "I don't know much about these vaults, but most of them are death traps now."

"It's a risk worth taking."

"I hate to admit it," Jin sighed. "But he's got a point. We could do with the money."

"We could." Mark agreed. "But not the early graves, assuming we get any."

"I agree with Jin." Mara said. "Maybe we can get Dunn's NCR buddies to get those Legion assassins off our asses too."

"I can ask the Rangers to deal with them." Dunn told her. "Easily, it won't cost you anything."

Mark glanced at Emily. "What do you think?"

Emily shrugged. "I don't know." She answered. "We need the caps, I don't want to set foot in that vault, but you're going to need my help."

"Ghost?"

"I'm in if you lot are." Ghost stated. "No pain, no gain as they say. It might be worth the risk."

Mark sighed and considered his options. Like it or not, Dunn was right. Jin and Mara were right too.

Besides, Mark would have looked for jobs in Vegas, the well-paying ones were dangerous too, Dunn had just given them one early.

"Okay." He conceded. "We're in."

* * *

_**By now, the Courier is out of the grave and is probably on the road to Primm or Nipton (what's left of it) by now. **_

_**I've put this vault far east of Hoover Dam because there's nothing else there, I don't think you can travel that far anyway. **_

_**Technically, the five protagonists are neutral. They don't want to cross House, NCR or the Legion, but they obviously have no love for the Legion.**_


	4. Ambush

_**I'm sorry about the chapters being short; it's mostly due to planning issues. If they are too short, I can merge them with previous chapters to make them longer.**_

* * *

"I take it that you and Dunn know each other?" Mara guessed.

"We were in the same unit." Mark told her. "Same patrol. He's not the nicest guy, but he's not a backstabber either."

Dunn had stayed in Novac, he had some business there. Mark and his group were on the road north.

"Can I ask you something?" Emily inquired.

"Go on." Mark nodded.

"Why did you leave the NCR?"

It wasn't the question he'd expected. From Emily, he would have expected a question about wasteland creatures or something about Vegas. Not this.

"It's a long story." Mark stated. "Let's leave it at that."

Only Ghost knew the story, because Mark had been drunk and had told him. Even though he'd been drunk, he'd been reluctant to tell the story. Knowing it, Ghost understood why.

"Why?" Emily looked disappointed. "I'm interested."

"I never ask you about your vault." Mark said tersely. "Drop it."

"Drop it?" Emily didn't always understand figurative language. "How can I drop a conversation?"

"Just…" Mark sighed, clearly irritated. "Stop talking."

Emily lowered her eyes, something she did when she was upset.

They just kept walking, with a tense silence, along the road.

In the end, it was Ghost who broke the silence. "What's the nearest settlement, Emily?"

Emily glanced at her pip-boy and showed it to Ghost. It seemed that she was taking the no talking thing seriously.

Ghost felt sorry for the girl, she had next to no understanding of the outside world. She'd only been outside for two weeks and a few days.

"Boulder City." He read out. "The NCR's holy ground."

Unable to contain her curiosity, Emily opened her mouth. "What's holy about it?"

"It's where they defeated Caesar's Legion in the first Battle for Hoover Dam." Ghost explained, as Mark was still in a bad mood. "The Rangers lured the Legion into Boulder City, which was booby trapped with explosives. Once the Legion entered the town, the NCR hit the detonators and the Legion was toast."

"That sounds exciting."

"It wasn't for the Legion." Ghost chuckled. "Their offensive was crippled, they retreated and Caesar was really pissed off about that. He even killed his Legate, he was that angry."

"Some people say that he's still alive." Mara pitched in abruptly. "They say he lives on as the Burned Man."

"Never pegged you as superstitious, Mara." Jin remarked. "How do you survive becoming a human torch and being thrown into the Grand Canyon?"

"You'd be surprised what people can survive." Mara argued. "I met a man who'd lost his legs and left arm to a landmine. Then there's House, how can he be alive after hundreds of years?"

"Maybe he's a ghoul." Ghost suggested. "That would be something worth seeing; a ghoul running Vegas."

* * *

The long walk went on for a few hours before they saw Boulder City, or what was left of it.

They didn't know about the ambush yet, but they would very soon.

It was the tripwire that gave it away.

"Hold up." Ghost hissed. "Wire."

"Cover me." Jin crouched and approached the wire, reaching for his tools. He had a knack with traps, all they had to do was point one out and he'd disarm it.

But this time, the trap wasn't the problem.

Mark heard a distinctive _whump _sound. "Down!" He yelled.

The 40mm grenade hit the ground and exploded, sending dirt and shrapnel flying.

Facedown, all Mark could hear was a low whine and ringing. As his hearing returned, he could hear shouting and gunfire. The clatter of a Chinese assault rifle, the _clak-clak-boom _of Mara's shotgun, the laser rifle hissing as it fired.

"Boss!" Ghost grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "You're not dead yet, start shooting!"

Mark found his carbine and opened fire. Ghost aimed and fired a single shot. The bullet found its mark and a woman fell to the ground with a hole in her head.

Jin moved left, staying behind cover, until he was behind two of the attackers. He smashed a skull and shattered a chest with his power fist.

Mark heard the grenade rifle fire again. The grenade exploded on their left.

"Jin!" Ghost shouted.

The man had been sent flying by the explosion and was lying at the side of the road.

"Cover me!" Ghost barked. He ran out and grabbed Jin's arms, pulling him into cover. "Emily, get over here!"

Emily sprinted to his position and knelt down next to Jin. He was bleeding from a gash in his forehead and was covered in dirt.

"Am I dead?" He yelled. "Everything's gone weird!"

Emily checked him carefully, using her pip-boy to read his vitals. "You're not dead." She told him. "You've got concussion. Hold still." She rummaged around in her medical bag. Most of his injuries were superficial, but the concussion was worth worrying about.

"Ghost!" Mark shouted. "We need you here!"

Ghost went back to join the shootout. He found the irritating grenadier and ended his life with another headshot.

"Mara, move up!" Mark ordered. "We'll cover you."

Mara nodded and ran forwards, firing as she went. One of the attackers hit the ground, holding his ruined leg and screaming until a burst from Mark's carbine ended his suffering.

Mara ducked behind a rock, waiting for her moment. She stood and fired, her target twisted and fell, a bloody ragdoll ripped apart by buckshot.

Ghost moved to the right, taking out another assailant with two shots to the chest. Emily alternated between checking on Jin and firing her laser rifle at their attackers. There was a yell and a man fell to the ground with a burning hole in his chest.

The carbine clicked, empty, Mark reached for another magazine.

Mark didn't see the enemy leader until it was too late.

The man had moved to his left and was now aiming his assault rifle at his head. Mark didn't have time to reload.

The rifle was a Type 93, loaded with 5.56mm bullets, made in China and probably recovered from a deserted battlefield. It wasn't the toughest gun in the world, but it was powerful. When this one fired, Mark would lose his head and most of his left arm and chest, assuming that it was set on automatic. He would die, that was for certain.

The moment seemed to drag on forever as he watched his own death, determined by just one pull of the trigger.

Emily looked up and saw the scene. She grabbed her rifle and activated VATS.

The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System showed her the chances of making successful shots and what condition her target was in.

She picked her targets quickly. Right arm, right leg, chest and head.

She pulled the trigger.

The man aimed and fired. Only to end up screaming and dropping his rifle, there was no finger to pull the trigger. In fact, there was no arm at all.

The next shot hit him in the leg, burning through the flesh and bone. He fell to his knees, still screaming.

The third shot hit him the chest. If that didn't kill him the shot to the head did.

Blood poured from his ruined arm, leg, and chest. His face had been burnt beyond recognition.

He fell onto his back, silent and very dead.

It had all been so sudden, yet had felt like slow-motion, that Mark could hardly believe it.

He'd been about a second away from death, now his would-be killer was a bloody mess on the side of the road. The sickly smell of cauterized flesh and blood filled the air.

It was very quiet all of a sudden.

"Boss," Ghost hurried back up the road. "I thought you were a goner!"

"Not quite." Mark lowered his carbine. "Thanks Emily."

"Anytime." She nodded, removing the spent MFC from her weapon.

Mark heard shouting and looked up to see men in uniforms running towards the carnage. He could see the two-headed bear symbol used by the NCR as they came closer.

"NCR." Mara muttered. "They're late."

The soldiers approached, keeping their rifles up, checking the bodies. Their leader, carrying a pistol instead of a rifle, was shouting orders.

"What's happening here?" He spoke to Mark now.

"It's already happened." Ghost remarked.

"I wasn't talking to you, ghoul." The officer grated. "What happened?"

"We got ambushed by these guys." Mark didn't bother to stand up. "How's Jin?" He asked Emily.

"He'll live." Emily answered. "He's got concussion, but he should be fine."

"So, are you going to arrest us?" Mark asked the officer.

"Maybe." The man growled. "Names."

"Mark Kelson." Mark sighed.

"You, what's your name." The officer pointed at Emily.

"Emily Nicks." She answered. "This is Jin Irving."

"And you two?"

"Mara Lanning." She was more interested in reloading her shotgun than the officer.

"Ghost." The ghoul shrugged.

"Full name." The officer demanded.

"I don't remember it." Ghost stated. "Ghost kind of stuck, suits me."

"Fine, whatever." The officer glanced at Mark. "It's your lucky day, we've been told to leave you alone."

Dunn must have told the NCR about them. At least he had saved them some trouble.

"So you're letting us go?" Ghost frowned. "Just like that?"

"We have orders." The officer stated. "Just leave before more trouble arrives." With that, he simply turned, called his soldiers back and walked away.

"Has anybody else's bullshit meter reached full?" Ghost muttered.

"What do you mean?" Emily didn't look up from her medical equipment.

"Massive gunfight, these guys were pros," Ghost explained. "Then the NCR turns up, ask us who we are, then walk away. Normally they'd want to interview us or something."

"Sorry, I don't understand."

"They're not trying to kill us, that's not the point." Ghost shrugged. "But they're turning a blind eye to us."

"Why?"

"I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out." Ghost continued. "If we get caught in the east, Legion territory, then we're just mercs who got stupid. The NCR gets to deny the whole thing and Caesar's Legion doesn't start a new offensive immediately. If they sent NCR soldiers, Caesar would see it as an attack and would send out his armies to counterattack, maybe take on the garrison at Hoover Dam again."

"That's a lot of guesswork, Ghost." Mara said.

"You know I'm right." Ghost retorted. "It's what I'd do. Makes you wonder who's in charge of this thing, because it's sure as hell not Dunn."

"Halley." Mark answered the question himself. "This is his style."

"Who's Halley?" Mara asked.

"The NCR's dirty little secret, if ever there was one. Only the NCR really knows about him." Mark explained. "The NCR has its own spy network, sabotage, assassination, blackmail, and Halley runs it."

"And you know him?" Emily guessed.

"That's part of the long story." Mark said. "But to cut it short, he's one of my reasons for leaving the NCR."

Emily opened her mouth to ask him about it, but Ghost held up his withered hand for silence. "Do you want to back out, Boss?" Ghost asked carefully.

Mark considered, looking down at the dust and blood. "No." He shook his head. "Halley and I need to talk, either way; we're going to settle the score." He glanced at Emily. "Can Jin walk?"

"I'll help him." Emily nodded. "He needs better treatment though."

"Then we'd better get moving." Mark slung his carbine over his shoulder and led the way.

Boulder City was close now, Vegas wasn't far away either. But this was just the start of a very long journey.

* * *

_**Nobody's complained about the idea, so I'll keep on writing. I'd like to thank Kogouma for reminding me about VATS. **_

_**And I'm not saying that I dislike or don't trust the NCR. That would make no sense since I support them. It'll become clear soon enough. **_

_**I apologise for using the "long story/sad past/sob story" subplots, but they'd be boring characters without them. And yes, I will reveal them.**_


	5. Burdens

_**Can't have a story without some villains, so here are some of them.**_

* * *

Being marked for death by the Caesar was one of the worst things that could happen to a person, unless they were exceptionally skilled and carrying heavy firepower.

Watching through the binoculars, he could see that the legionnaires would have to be cautious.

The five wanderers had decent firepower and could clearly handle themselves in a fight.

"When do we kill them?" That was the third time he had been asked that question.

"Soon." The Praetorian lowered the binoculars. "They will die, Caesar demands it. But he does not demand our deaths, we must be patient." He was a veteran of several battles; he had survived the ambush at Boulder City. Severus was one of the best, second to the Legate and Vulpes Inculta. This entitled him to the advanced Legion armour, with parts from power armour scavenged and attached, and his own weapons. He had plucked the anti-materiel rifle he used from the hands of a dead NCR Ranger, who he stabbed several times with a knife.

"Dying in service to Caesar is honourable." The other legionnaire was of a lower rank, but he was still respected. He was called Marcus. Unlike Severus, he was reckless. He favoured a modified 12.7mm SMG, equipped with a stock, extended barrel and larger magazine.

The other legionnaires with them carried much less advanced weaponry, old rifles and shotguns, one or two spears and machetes too.

"You are correct, Marcus." Severus agreed. "But it is not our duty to die. Not yet."

"Why did they send us, Praetorian?"

"They killed ten of our best."

"I thought they killed nine."

"Ten. The messenger bled to death, a sniper shot him." Severus spoke coldly and flatly, he couldn't have cared less.

"Why not take them out with the rifle?"

"We are too far." Severus stated. "The wind will affect the bullet's flight path. Even if I could kill one of them, the others would scatter. They would flee, hide, or seek revenge."

Marcus sat back against a rock and sharpened his knife. He wondered which one of their targets he'd kill with the blade; he always finished off his last victim with a blade. His gun was good, but there was something satisfying about watching the last victim squirm after he had killed his or her friends. Then he'd sink it in, slowly, and they could nothing to stop him.

Severus wasn't as sadistic. He'd taken to sniping his enemies, something the Legion frowned upon. But he was too good at it, so they let him keep the rifle.

"They're heading towards Camp Golf." Severus lowered his rifle. "The NCR must have contacted them. Send a runner to the nearest Legion camp."

"Why not ambush them?"

"Because they want something. Something the NCR wants to." Severus muttered. "And that means that the Caesar wants it too."

* * *

"What's this?" Emily was crouched next to something. It was small, made of metal. It was bigger than her head and shaped a bit like it.

Jin knelt down and picked it up, examining it. "It's the helmet from some power armour, an older model I'd say."

"Can we use it?"

"It's busted." Jin rapped his knuckled against the metal. "Might be able to make something out of it, but it's no good as a helmet."

"Why?" Emily asked. "It looks fine to me."

Jin turned it round and Emily saw his point. The hole in the front had been fairly small, but the other side had a large one. It looked like a bullet had been fired through it, which had torn off the back of the helmet.

"Oh…" She stared at the damage. "That's pretty bad."

"That's putting it lightly." Jin nodded. "It was either an exploding bullet or a large calibre. Maybe both."

Emily was now checking the cliffs for snipers.

"I think they're long gone, Emily." Ghost had stopped to see what they had found.

"Hey, guys!" Mara called. "We need to keep moving, come on!"

Jin shoved the helmet into his satchel and ran with the others to catch up.

"New toy?" Mara asked.

"Old helmet." Jin was known for picking up bits of junk and making them into something useful. "I'll tinker with it later."

"I don't go for helmets." Mara stated. "They obscure my vision."

"They peel my skin off." Ghost muttered.

"Not to mention that wearing a helmet in this heat is just suicidal." Mara added. "Brain roast, perfect for cannibals."

Mark frowned as he noticed Emily shiver. He still knew next to nothing about her past, maybe it was better not to know.

She wasn't a cannibal. She hadn't tried to snack on them anyway. Maybe she'd known one.

The sun was descending. At least the heat would become bearable. Of course, vision was limited at night. They would have to be careful.

As they walked, light faded away over the horizon as the sun departed. The sky was clear, showing the many stars above their heads.

It was colder now, but after walking through the heat of the Mojave sun, it was perfect.

"Still scared of that big open sky, Emily?" Jin teased.

"No." Emily smiled. "It's beautiful."

Mark and Ghost had stumbled across her when she had been stargazing, almost like a child. They'd spoken briefly, but when they'd walked away she had followed.

They'd travelled a long way in the last few hours. The road was leading them alongside Lake Mead. It was one of the few clean sources of water left in the wasteland.

"Better not stop for a swim," Mara warned. "There might be lakelurks around."

"How many ghouls do you see swimming?" Ghost challenged. "It's not good for us."

"What's a lakelurk?" Emily asked.

"You'll know when you're looking at one." Mara said. "They're big man-fish things, ugly as hell, and they have some sort of noise attack."

"Sonic?"

"That's what scientists call it, yes."

"We'll camp up there." Mark pointed at a spot at the side of the road, littered with old caravans. "Check it first, we don't want any surprises."

Mara and Jin moved in first, backed up by the others. It was safer to check, just in case any creatures or hostiles had moved in.

But it was safe, they were alone.

"All clear, Boss." Ghost stated. "We might as well gather water while we're here." He gestured at the lake.

"Agreed." Mark nodded. "Emily, Mara, go and get some. We'll set up here. Ghost…"

"Way ahead of you, Boss." Ghost had already climbed onto one of the caravans; it made a good vantage point. He had a modified scope for his sniper rifle, he flicked a switch and the view through the scope turned green. Night vision scopes were pretty useful in the wasteland.

Mark checked a bottle of water, holding a Geiger counter against it. Emily could use her pip-boy to do the same thing. The counter clicked.

Mark sighed and threw the bottle to Ghost, radiation made no difference to him.

Mark made himself comfortable in one of the caravans and settled down, hoping for some sleep before he had to keep watch.

* * *

Emily laid her laser rifle down on the jetty before reaching for an empty bottle. She hesitated.

"What if there's a lakelurk?" She asked.

"We'd know about it." Mara stated. "They're pretty aggressive." She dipped her hand into the water and wriggled it around.

She yelped.

Emily gasped and reached for her weapon, but Mara just laughed and lifted her undamaged hand out of the water.

"Just kidding!" Mara giggled. "The look on your face was priceless."

Emily began to laugh too. "You scared me, Mara." She reached down and filled one of the bottles. "It's colder than I thought."

"You didn't have water in the vault?" Mara asked. "Did you live off Nuka-Cola?"

"No, we had water." Emily put the filled bottle away. "Just not like this, it came out of a tap."

"Not many taps left out here." Mara shrugged. "What was life in the vault like?"

Emily stopped halfway through filling a bottle. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about my home either." Mara said. "Mostly because it was shit. I was only asking."

"I don't want to talk about it." Emily stated firmly.

"Okay, I get it." Mara assured her. "No talking about your vault. Sorry for asking."

"It's just…" Emily began, stopping herself. She either wouldn't or couldn't talk about it.

"Just what?" Mara inquired.

"It's just not a nice story." Emily sighed. "You don't want to hear it."

Mara said nothing. What could she say?

* * *

Jin was removing the electronics from the scavenged helmet when they returned.

"You're late." He smirked. "What were you doing? Making out?"

"No." Mara handed him some water, hoping that it would keep him quiet.

"What does that mean?" Emily asked.

"Ignore him." Mara advised. "He needs to grow up."

"That hurt." Jin whined.

"I'm sure your ego will recover." Mara rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately."

Emily found Mark dozing in the back of a caravan. She carefully placed a bottle of water next to him, but ended up waking him anyway.

"Hey," he yawned. "Am I on watch?"

"No, not yet." Emily said. "Sorry for waking you."

"It's fine." He drank some of the water. "Ghost will need some shuteye soon, even he needs to sleep. So do you."

"It's difficult." Emily muttered.

"Open sky?"

"Not exactly." She shrugged. "Mark, I'm sorry I asked about you and the NCR."

"You saved my skin, I don't hate you."

"I just think we got off to a bad start."

"We've only known each other for two weeks." Mark said. "Neither of us really wants to talk about the past."

"Are you looking forwards to seeing your brother again?" Emily asked cautiously.

Mark considered. "Sort of." He said after a few moments. "We haven't seen each other for a while. We didn't part on the best of terms."

Emily sat next to him, hugging her knees to her chest. "What is it like? To have a brother?"

Mark considered again. "It's difficult to describe." He answered. "You're just… connected. I mean, we always argued, but we always felt close regardless and would always stop at some point. I didn't want to him to go to Vegas; he was getting involved with gangs. But the more I tried to help, the more I pushed him away." He stopped. "Sorry, you don't want to hear about my problems."

"Keeping them to yourself can't help." Emily said. "That's hypocritical coming from me though."

Mark glanced at her, looking into those haunted eyes. "Your life in the vault, do you want to talk about it?"

"I…" She almost did. She wanted to. "No. Not yet."

Mark decided not to pressure her. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He picked up his carbine and went to relieve Ghost.

Emily sat in the caravan, alone.

They were two tortured souls, weighed down by the past. Just two of many.

Emily looked out the broken window, up into the night sky. She wondered what her parents would have thought about this world. Would they have liked it?

She'd never know.


	6. The lights of Vegas

"Looks like there's a settlement ahead." Jin shaded his eyes with his hand.

"It's Camp Golf." Mark said. "A Ranger station."

"How far to Vegas now?"

"Not far according to my pip-boy." Emily glanced at the display. "We should be there in a few days."

Once again, it was a brutally hot Mojave day. No rain, some radiation and enough heat to boil an egg on the road.

"I hope there's shade in Vegas." Emily muttered. Her exposure to the sun had resulted in a few burns. "And Nuka-Cola."

"What is it with you and Nuka-Cola?" Mara frowned.

"I just like it." Emily shrugged. "It's like Ghost and his alcohol, or Jin and his sarsaparilla."

"Even if it is slightly radioactive?"

"What isn't out here?" Emily countered. "It's nothing that our daily doses of rad-away can't deal with."

"Okay." Mara gave up. "Suit yourself."

They walked past Camp Golf, following the road towards Vegas. Now they could see the Lucky 38 and the tall buildings that occupied the Strip.

Mr House had never set foot outside of the Lucky 38, only the securitons entered. People never went in and they never left.

Emily was listening to the radio. The channel was a bit garbled, but they could hear the odd bit.

"A gunfight in Primm?" Ghost inquired. "What was that about?"

"Some fugitives from the NCRCF apparently." Emily said. "Some stranger showed up and dealt with them."

"Crime doesn't pay." Ghost smirked.

The walk was long and quiet, apart from the odd conversation. Mark was pretty determined to reach Freeside by nightfall at the latest.

"Next time we do something like this for the NCR, we should use their monorails." Mara grumbled. "My blisters have blisters now."

Jin glanced at Emily. "So, vault life." He started. "Close community?"

"I guess so." Emily looked a bit uncertain about the question.

"Here we go again." Mara rolled her eyes. "Jin, leave her alone."

"Harmless question." Jin protested. "Ever get _close _to somebody?"

"I had friends." Emily answered slowly. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Not that kind of close." Jin continued. "I meant _intimately _close."

"Jin!" Mara chided.

"No." Emily answered. "I wasn't meant to… I mean no, I didn't have any relationships."

"Weren't meant to?" Jin asked.

"It doesn't matter." Emily sighed. "Let's talk about something else."

"But…"

"Jin." Mara growled.

Jin submitted. "Okay, sorry." He switched the topic, finally. "You know that helmet I picked up, I managed to turn it into a sort of torch."

Mark was slightly ahead of them, as they talked Ghost caught up with him.

"Problem?" Mark asked.

"I saw something last night." Ghost stated. "Someone was watching us."

"Legion?"

"Probably." Ghost muttered. "Dunn either hasn't done anything or these are elite members of the Legion."

"What are you two up to?" Mara called. They were catching up.

"Discussing the route." Ghost lied.

"We could use Emily's wrist computer thing." Mara said.

"Pip-boy." Emily corrected her. "I don't know what the best route is anyway."

"I'd say…" Jin pointed at the screen. "This way. Should lead straight up to Freeside and hopefully keep us away from the Fiends."

"Fiends?" Emily asked.

"Sort of bandits, but they're addicted to chems," Mara explained, "well armed and crazy too. The bastards are always shooting caravans and refugees."

They noticed Mara's choice of words; they all knew that she hated the raiders, Fiends in particular.

That explained the shotgun. When you fought a chem driven maniac, you needed something to stop him dead.

Walking into the outskirts meant walking along the road to Camp McCarran, past a number of deserted structures and finally into Freeside, which was where they needed to be.

There was less chance of an ambush during the day, but the Fiends were crazy enough to attempt a daylight attack.

Mara unslung her shotgun, took the safety off and pumped a round into the chamber. The distinctive sound was loud in the quiet outskirts.

Jin raised his eyebrows.

"Better loaded than sorry." Mara stated.

Emily was almost bouncing after them, eager to see this new place. She had the excited and curious nature of a child at times. It was kind of funny, and cute, but a little worrying at times. She could turn into a killer when threatened, survival instincts could be deadly.

There weren't many NCR patrols around. In fact they were pretty much alone.

Mark had copied Mara's example and was holding his weapon. The safety was off, but the barrel was pointed at the ground. Safeties didn't always work. Muzzle awareness was wise if you needed the safety off anyway. Perhaps they worked better for energy weapons, but ballistics could be set off by accidents, an unintentional squeeze of the trigger or even a hard knock. His finger was also off the trigger; all NCR troops were taught trigger discipline.

Emily kept reading signs on the old buildings and marking them on her pip-boy. Maybe that would help, even if it didn't it kept her happy in some odd way.

"Just wait until she sees Vegas." Jin murmured. "Especially at night."

"What's it like?" Emily had heard him and was eager to learn more.

"Wait and see." Jin smirked. "There's a hotel in the Strip, an old vault."

"We don't have enough caps to get inside the Strip." Ghost stated.

"You'd feel right at home." Jin continued. "Maybe you should visit."

Emily looked down at her feet, her curiosity and happiness suddenly dampened. "No thanks."

Mark still had his NCR passport, it was probably invalid now, but it might still work on the securitrons guarding the Strip. Or so he had heard, he'd only seen Vegas, he'd never been inside. But if it did, maybe he could show Emily what Vegas was like at night.

Then it struck him, almost like a punch. Why did he care?

He glanced briefly at Emily. Dunn had been right, he hadn't cared before. That had been one reason for his discharge from the NCR.

Was that why he'd started? Or was there something else?

He glanced at Emily again. She glanced back and smiled nervously. He could see the sadness in her eyes.

Something else then, his change had nothing to do with the NCR.

Ghost spotted them first. He held up a hand, signalling a halt. "Hold up, Fiends ahead."

"How can you tell?" Emily asked.

"Distinctive dress sense." Ghost said. "Same goes for the Legion. Trust me, you'll know a Fiend when you see one."

Emily took a look through the scope of her laser rifle. "How can they be comfortable in that stuff?"

"Are we going to kill them or what?" Mara demanded, aiming her shotgun at the two Fiends, despite the range they were at.

"It might be better to find another route." Mark said. "Save some ammo."

Mara gave him a look, she said nothing, but she was questioning him.

"Fine." Mark shrugged. "Ghost, watch our backs."

Ghost nodded. Mark moved up, crouching and staying close to the buildings.

Even though they could only see two Fiends, that didn't mean that there were more of them hiding somewhere. Gunfire would attract more of them.

Given the choice, Mark would have either crept around them or let Ghost kill them, but Mara could be impulsive, given the chance she would have charged in and started a fight.

Mark stayed close to the building, almost pressing against it. The two Fiends were talking, nothing particularly intelligent. Something about attacking a caravan and grabbing any chems their victims had.

"We could still do this quietly," Mark whispered. "It might be safer."

Mara scowled at him. "We kill them." She growled. "Try to stop me."

Mark glanced at Emily and Jin. Jin shrugged, Emily was visibly nervous and concerned. Mara was friendly outside of combat, but she was utterly ruthless when the bullets began to fly. Especially if the bullets were being fired by Fiends.

Mark sighed and nodded before turning back to the Fiends and raising his carbine, aiming down the sights.

Jin raised his hand. Ghost fired.

One of the Fiends toppled with a hole in the side of his head. The other one glanced round, trying to find the shooter, reaching for his weapon.

Mara moved forwards and fired, the shotgun round tore through the Fiends and sent him sprawling.

Mark heard shouting, so there were more of them. Great.

When the Fiends ran out from behind the burnt shell of a truck, the fight began.

Emily fired the laser rifle, the beam was close to Mark's head and he felt the heat wash over him. He opened fire too, the carbine rattled as it spewed 5mm bullets at the Fiends running into cover. Two of them toppled, one of them was dead and the other crawled a few inches before a shot from Ghost finished him off.

Jin moved to the right, staying in cover. He ran forwards, shot on Fiend with his pistol and smashed his power fist into the chest of a second. Mara had already run into the fray. A Fiend peeked over cover. The last thing he saw was a shotgun barrel before Mara blew his head apart.

Mark could see a Fiend moving around to flank them, cradling a bolt action rifle.

"Cover me!" Mark shouted over the gunfire before sprinting to the left, taking cover behind a dumpster. Emily was still firing, covering him with red lances of heat.

Mark aimed and fired twice. The first shot hit the Fiend rifleman in the chest, the second punched through his lungs, flattened slightly and ripped through his heart. The Fiend was dead before he hit the ground.

Mark couldn't hear Ghost's rifle over the gunfire, but he could see his targets collapsing.

Despite Mara's recklessness, the battle was going well.

Until one of the Fiends, hiding in the husk of a house, took aim with a stolen service rifle and fired.

The first shot hit the ground, near Emily's foot. As she registered this, the second hit the wall next to her head. As she moved, the third hit her.

Emily cried out, twisted round as the bullet left her body, and hit the ground.

Ghost was almost on cue, running out and grabbing her. He dragged her behind the dumpster.

There was blood running down her arm, the bullet had hit her in the shoulder.

Emily gritted her teeth and reached into her satchel, fumbling for a stimpak. She managed to find one and jabbed the needle into her arm, wincing as the drug worked its way into her system. The stim would dull the pain and hopefully slow the bleeding.

"You okay?" Mark asked, only realising how dumb the question was after he had spoken.

"I'll live." Emily grated.

Ghost raised his rifle and fired a single shot. The bullet sliced through another Fiend, their lack of armour made them mobile but vulnerable. Of course, the same went for Mark, Ghost and Emily, only Mara and Jin had the safety offered by heavy armour.

Mark turned away from the battle, Ghost took his place. Emily was a good medic, but she needed help. If the wound wasn't cleaned and covered, stims or not, it would end up being infected. Losing an arm could be a death sentence in the wasteland.

Mark helped to apply antiseptics and a bandage. Aiming was going to difficult, but she could still fight.

Emily nodded her thanks and lifted her laser rifle slowly, wincing slightly.

"Stay down." Mark ordered. "Watch our backs."

Emily didn't protest. Mark turned back to the gunfight and opened fire, but the fight was more or less over. Mara chased down the last fleeing Fiend and shot him in the back.

She calmly reloaded as she walked back down the road. Jin wiped the blood off his power fist and walked back with her.

Ghost wasn't as calm. In fact, he was annoyed. "What was that about?" He growled.

"They were in the way." Mara stated.

"We could have avoided them." Ghost stopped her, jabbing a withered finger towards her. "Emily's been shot and we've wasted time, ammunition and medical supplies."

"So we should avoid every gunfight we walk into?" Mara challenged. "This is life, I thought you knew that."

"I know when to fight and when to back down." Ghost snarled. "Pull another stunt like that and one of us, maybe all of us, will end up dead."

"Stop arguing." Mark was still crouching next to Emily. "What's happened has happened. There's nothing we can do about it now."

"Mark, I trust you." Ghost said. "But this fight was unnecessary."

"Look at this way," Jin smirked. "We've done some good, fewer gun toting chem addicts to deal with."

"It's just a flesh wound, Ghost." Emily sounded a little pained. "Jin has a point too."

Ghost sighed. "Look, we shouldn't be taking needless risks."

"Agreed." Mark nodded. "Mara, I know how much you hate Fiends, but we can't take too many risks. Whatever Dunn has lined up for us, we'll need as much ammo and as many supplies as we can save."

It was Mara's turn to scowl this time. "Fine."

Mark stood up, reached down and helped Emily onto her feet. She managed another nervous smile.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." Mark smiled back.

Ghost and Jin were scavenging ammo, bottle caps and anything valuable from the dead Fiends. Mara kept nudging corpses with her boot, checking them in case they were still alive.

One of them was, but he didn't last very long, the shotgun boomed and ended his life permanently. Mara wiped the gore off her armour, no emotion crossed her face.

"Ammo check?" Mark asked. He checked his magazine, it was almost empty.

"I've got ten MFCs left." Emily checked her current cell. "This one's half full."

"I could do with some more bullets." Ghost stated. "I've got three clips left."

"Ten rounds left." Jin answered. "Mara?"

"Enough." Mara stated.

"We can stop by the Gun Runners," Ghost said. "Pick up some ammo before we enter Freeside."

"Sounds good to me." Mark accepted. "Let's get moving, before someone investigates this mess."

* * *

It was getting late as they walked up the Gun Runners' compound. The shed outside had an old robot inside, safe inside an improvised shelter. Taking on the Gun Runners was pretty stupid anyway; they had enough firepower to take on a small army.

"Welcome sir or madam." The robot wasn't clever; it only followed its programming. "Do you wish to purchase something?"

"I'd like to see your inventory." Ghost said.

Mark glanced at the gates to Freeside. Emily was gazing at the lights of New Vegas, as the sky darkened, the Strip brightened.

"You know what we need Ghost." He said. "I need to check on something."

"Sure, Boss." Ghost nodded, glancing at the items the Gun Runners had for sale.

Mark gestured at Emily, telling her to follow him. She looked a little nervous, perhaps she thought that Mark was angry with her.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise." He told her enigmatically.

Freeside wasn't as glamorous as the Strip, in fact it was dull and dirty in comparison. People rarely lived here by choice; they were either refugees or couldn't enter the Strip.

Emily stayed close to Mark, he understood. Freeside wasn't safe either; she had good reason to be wary.

It took them ten minutes to walk through Freeside, night had fallen by the time they neared the checkpoint.

Emily saw the flashing lights and her nervousness dissipated. "Are we…" She began.

A securitron approached, looking precarious on its single wheel. The image of a moody policeman was on its screen.

"Submit to a credit check," it demanded. "Or present your passport."

Moment of truth. Mark held up his old passport.

The securitron examined it. "You may enter the Strip." It stated, it turned to Emily. "Submit to a credit check, or present your passport."

"She's with me." Mark cut in.

"Very well. Be aware that you take full responsibility for her actions." The securitron moved aside. "Thank you for visiting New Vegas."

Emily was almost bouncing again, grinning from ear-to-ear as they walked up to the gates and walked into the Strip.

Mark had never been inside either; he was just as amazed by the sight. Everything was covered in lights; everything flashed and fought for attention.

Despite the flamboyance and the nature of the place, it was strangely beautiful, enthralling.

Judging by the mix of awe and happiness on Emily's face, this made up for being shot.

"I knew you'd like this." Mark said.

"This place is… amazing." Emily smiled. "Thank you!" She clasped his hand. "Thank you so much."

Mark smiled at her; he was actually pleased to see how happy she was. "We've got some time." He said. "There's more to see."

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Really?" She asked. "We're going to see more?"

"Come on." He led her forwards. "We both wanted to see Vegas, so let's see it."

Emily's smile widened as she walked with him. Mark almost forgot that they were still holding hands. But neither of them let go.

* * *

_**If that bit about Primm didn't ring alarm bells, here's the explanation: the Courier is up and getting into trouble. The Courier won't appear in this story though. **_

_**Updates will be slow, I'm back at college now, so I'm writing during weekends. **_


	7. Guilt

They walked back into Freeside half an hour later. Ghost and the others were waiting for them.

"Took your time." Ghost commented.

"Finished making out?" Jin smirked.

"Jin!" Mara chided.

"What?" Jin shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Compared to the lights of Vegas, Freeside was even duller and even dirtier. Emily kept looking back at the flashing towers and buildings of the Strip.

"Nothing like that, Jin." Mark explained. "Emily wanted to see Vegas."

"So you say." Jin muttered.

Ghost had picked up ammunition, he handed some magazines to Mark and some micro-fusion cells to Emily.

Now all they had to do was find Dunn. According to their instructions, he was waiting at the Atomic Wrangler.

It wasn't the most glamorous or richest casino in Vegas, but it was fairly quiet and out of the way. The Van-Graffs located in the Silver Rush kept the troublemakers away; nobody wanted to tangle with their thugs, who were all carrying energy weapons.

Some eyes turned as they entered the casino. Dunn was in disguise, but despite the dirty suit, hat and sunglasses, Mark recognised him instantly. His stance and the 9mm tucked into the waistband of his trousers gave him away.

Dunn was loitering next to the bar, a neglected glass of beer sat next to him. He was agitated.

"You're late." Dunn stated.

"Only by a few minutes." Mark stated.

"Whatever." Dunn muttered. "Follow me." He led them up to a small room, he'd obviously rented it. The only thing that didn't belong to the Wrangler was on the table, a map.

"This is where that wrist computer thing your friend has will come in useful." Dunn said.

"It's a pip-boy." Emily sighed. "You want me to put this on my map."

"Got it in one." Dunn nodded. "Be my guest." He gestured at the map. Emily walked past him and began to add coordinates to her pip-boy's map.

"Anything to tell us, Dunn?" Ghost folded his arms.

"Not much." Dunn shrugged. "You know where to go. But there is something you need to know. Remember those assassins on your tails? I sent some Rangers out to find them."

"And?" Mark asked, feeling a vague sense of dread.

"They never came back." Dunn stated. "The Rangers were found dead yesterday."

"So the Legion is still after us." Mara muttered. "Brilliant."

"There's more." Dunn continued. "You'll be entering their territory, if they see you; they'll send their troops after you."

"Can you just put it simply?" Jin frowned. "Are we screwed or are we screwed?"

"You're pretty much screwed." Dunn said. "For all the good it will do, take this radio." He handed Mark a small device. "Use it as soon as you find the power source, we'll come and get you and the device out of trouble."

"How?" Emily glanced up from the map and her pip-boy.

"We have some old vertibirds." Dunn explained. "They'll do the job."

"Before we leave," Mark pocketed the radio. "Where's my brother?"

"Aerotech Park." Dunn answered. "Can't be any more specific than that, but he's definitely there." He paused. "About that radio, call us on it when you need to check in, you know the drill."

"Call sign?"

"You're Mercury." Dunn stated. "We're going with Jupiter."

"Roman gods?" Emily murmured. "Odd choice."

"Might fool the Legion." Dunns shrugged. "Might not. You know how Halley works, Mark. He likes to be cryptic."

"Yeah, all too well." Mark muttered. "Are we done?"

"Halley wants to see you at Camp McCarran before you the area." Dunn told him. "We'll set some supplies aside at McCarran. See you soon." Dunn put his hat back on, took the map and walked out.

The five of them were left feeling slightly perplexed.

"And does anyone else detect the smell of bullshit?" Jin asked.

"Why would he lie?" Mara frowned.

"It's not Dunn's style." Mark agreed. "Halley might though."

Ghost huffed, a sign that he was about to announce something. "I need a drink."

"Me too." Mark followed him out of the room.

Ghost slowed down a bit as they moved to the stairs. "Mark,"

"Uh oh." Mark grimaced. "I know that tone."

"You and Emily."

"What about it?" Mark shrugged. "She wanted to see the Strip, so did I."

"I'm not thick, Mark." Ghost stated. "I've seen the way you look at her, and you decided to take her into Vegas, just the two of you."

Mark sighed. "Okay, you've got me." Mark surrendered. "I like her, Ghost. She's a nice girl."

"I gathered that much." Ghost was slightly ahead of him as they walked down the stairs. "I'm just wondering where you're going. Romance rarely works in the wasteland."

"Romance?" They had reached the bottom of the stairs. "What makes you think that? We barely know each other. Call it a… developing friendship."

"Fine." Ghost accepted. "But I know how this will go; it'll either end with a slap in the face or in a bed." He cleared his throat, catching the bartender's attention. "Two beers, please." The man went to get them.

"All I can say is good luck." Ghost finished. "The latter seems to be the better ending."

Mark knew that Ghost had a point, if not several. When it came to Emily, his male instincts said _pursue _and his brain said _befriend_. Either way, he wanted to get closer to her in some way. He didn't want to take advantage of her, it would be better to act as a friend if that made her comfortable.

Mark tried to push those thoughts aside as the beers came. The chances were that they'd end up in a ditch, or crucified by the Legion.

What would he do if it came to that?

An unwritten rule in his old unit had been to keep one bullet in a sidearm, a quick and painless alternative to crucifixion.

But who would he keep the bullet for?

Stress and fear conspired against him, and he had a mental image of Emily being nailed to a cross. He could hear her screams in his head. He'd heard similar, painful screams before.

Ghost was right; romance was probably a bad idea. But even so, he made a mental note to save at least two bullets if the Legion cornered them.

He shook the dark thoughts out of his head and drank his beer.

* * *

Emily came down a few minutes later, breaking the mood with her nervous smile and curiosity.

Ghost decided to buy her a beer, but she didn't like it so he ended up with a second. Mara and Jin came down too. Unlike Emily, they liked alcohol, although Jin preferred whisky.

They would have finished in silence, but Emily was her usual chatty self. Even with the prospect of walking into Legion territory, she was upbeat and cheery. Mark couldn't help but like her for that, it was like she gave the wasteland a silver lining despite all the rust and dirt.

"What's that over there?" She pointed at something inside the casino. Mark followed the direction of her finger.

"That's a blackjack table." He told her. "You've seen Ghost play blackjack with me."

"And that one?"

"Roulette." Mark stated, sipping his beer. "I don't play that game, my luck's a bit lousy with the spinner." Mark could see the curiosity in her eyes and began to patiently explain. It was odd; anyone watching would assume that they had some sort of mentor-student, perhaps a father-daughter relationship. But Mark wasn't so sure. At least, he wasn't sure where this relationship was going.

He finished his drink. The others were talking quietly and taking their time.

"I'm heading into Aerotech." He stated, shrugging on his coat. "I'll see you in Freeside."

"Good luck, buddy." Jin raised his glass.

"See you later, Boss." Ghost nodded.

Mark murmured his thanks and stepped out into the night. He didn't quite know what to do for a moment.

"What is Aerotech Park?" Emily's question gave him a moment of clarity.

"It's a kind of refugee camp." Mark said after a pause. "You don't have to come with me."

"I feel out of place in there." Emily gestured at the casino. "I won't get in the way, I promise."

"It's alright." Mark half smiled. "You can tag along if you want, I won't stop you."

The night air was cold, a surprise in the Mojave. The distant lights and noise of the Strip punctuated the night air with thumps and flashes.

Mark's footsteps felt heavy, compared to the still skipping steps that Emily took. He didn't know what to expect.

Would Josh be pleased to see him? He didn't know. Had he changed? He hoped so.

The walk down to Aerotech felt strange, but he managed it somehow.

Walking into the sparsely populated camp, he suddenly had second thoughts.

Emily bumped into him, he had stopped suddenly. "Sorry." She apologised quickly.

Mark didn't say anything, he took a deep breath and stepped into the park and walked up to the tent.

There were several beds inside, set out in rows like a hospital. There were a few figures sprawled out on the beds, dressed in old and ragged clothes. There was a Doctor walking around and checking on them.

Mark moved slowly, trying not to disturb anybody. He didn't recognise any of the people.

And then he saw him. Josh had changed slightly, he had a rough beard and his hair was longer and greasier, but Mark still recognised him.

Mark crouched down next to the bed. "Josh?"

The man murmured something and turned over.

Mark shook him gently. "Josh, it's me. It's Mark."

Josh turned over again and slowly opened his eyes. They were slightly bloodshot and unfocused.

"What?" He was slightly confused.

"Josh, it's me." Mark repeated. "Mark."

"Mark? I didn't know you were coming." Josh murmured. "You liked to help. Can you help?"

"What's wrong?"

"Need…" Josh coughed, shivering slightly. "I need something. They took it away, said it was bad. Bad, bad, bad."

"Mark," Emily laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's… cold turkey."

The words were meaningless for a moment. Then he understood. Withdrawal.

"Who's this? Girlfriend?" Josh was still shivering. "You were always the lucky one. Tried to skip town with one, found her in Gamorrah."

Mark sighed and shook his head. "Josh, you crossed the Omertas. What were you thinking?"

"Scored big. Big time." Josh was almost feverish; cold sweat was beading on his forehead. "Felt lucky, good jet, very good, very fast."

So he'd become addicted to jet as well. Mark was devastated. He still remembered the cheerful lad Josh had been before leaving.

He'd come all the way to Vegas to see him, to wish him well. But now that he was here, all Josh wanted was more drugs.

A hand touched his shoulder, but it wasn't Emily, it was the Doctor.

"Do you know this man?" He asked gently.

Mark nodded.

"Can we talk?"

Mark stood up and followed him into a corner. The Doctor looked sympathetic.

"Are you a relative?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm his brother." Mark answered simply.

"I'm Doctor Michaels." The man introduced himself. "You must be Mark Kelson, he's mentioned you."

"He's in withdrawal."

"Worse than that." Michaels sighed. "We did what we could, but with the damage from both the bullets and the drugs… I'm sorry. I can't put it any other way, he's dying."

Mark didn't know what to say. What could he say?

Emily reached out slowly and held his hand. Not the way she had done when they had walked and laughed through the Strip, but in a way meant to comfort, to sympathise.

"How long?" The words sounded strained.

"It's hard to say." Michaels wiped his glasses with a cloth. "Not long, I'm afraid. He will die soon, between the drugs and the bullets; every organ is damaged in some way. All we can do is make it as painless as possible. Alternatively, we could euthanize him, but we'd need your consent."

Mark could feel tears in his eyes. Josh had always been there, since Mark had been a toddler. They'd laughed, played, argued and grown up together. And now…

It was like a piece of his heart, his soul, was being torn away.

Josh was here, alive. Yet he wasn't himself. But he was still Mark's brother, his only living relative left in the world. He was going to die, sooner or later; nothing could be done to save him.

Mark swallowed. "Let me talk to him."

"Of course." Michaels nodded.

Mark returned to Josh's side. He didn't really know what to say.

"You're back," Josh murmured. "Did you bring anything? Any jet?"

"No, I'm sorry." Mark shook his head.

"What about your girlfriend? Does she have any?"

"No." Mark didn't want to stay with this topic. "This is Emily; she's a friend of mine."

"Can't see too well." Josh squinted at Emily. "Pretty though."

Emily didn't know what to say either, she didn't know Josh, but she felt sorry for him.

"Josh, I… I'm sorry." Mark had to fight to keep the tears at bay. "I should have spent more time at home. I should have taken care of you."

"You did your best, Mark." Emily said gently.

"It wasn't enough though." Mark's voice cracked. "I can't even save my own brother."

"You can't save everybody, Mark." Emily's voice was suddenly full of painful memories. In some way, she understood what he was going through. "But you cared, and that counts."

Cared? Mark had run off to the NCR and left his family to look after themselves. Then Josh had gone to Vegas and ended up like this.

When he had he given a damn? Maybe he cared now, but it was all too late.

"Hey, brother," Josh turned back to him. "She's right, you did your best. You seem to be doing well for yourself." He was drowsy, his words were slurred. "Whatever you're up to now, good luck."

Mark felt a tear run down his face. "Thanks, Josh." He stood up and walked slowly, like his feet were weighed down with lead, with guilt.

"I know how hard this is." Michaels said.

"Doctor…" Mark took in a shaky breath. "You have… my permission. Please, make it painless."

"I will." Michaels nodded. "I promise."

They returned to Josh's bed. He was almost sleeping, not quite focused.

Michaels had a hypodermic syringe in his hand. Mark understood.

"Josh, are you still awake?" Mark asked gently.

"Mark?"

"Yes, it's me." Mark held his hand, Josh's skin was cold and clammy but he didn't care. "You're… you're going to feel sleepy in a moment. Think of home, as it was years ago. You'll be there."

"I'd like that, Mark." Josh murmured. "When?"

"Soon." Mark could hear his voice quavering. Emily clasped his other hand, trying to give him the strength he needed to carry on. Mark looked up and nodded at Michaels.

The Doctor carefully injected the syringe's contents into Josh's arm. Josh didn't seem to register it at first.

"What's that?" He asked.

"It's okay, Josh." Mark managed to say. "You'll feel better soon. No more pain."

Josh didn't understand at first. Then there was a moment of clarity, then one of sadness.

Finally, there was a brief smile. "Thank you…"

Those were his last words.

His eyes closed. His breathing slowed down and stopped completely.

"Goodbye." Mark murmured sadly.

"You did the right thing, Mark." Emily told him.

"I hope so."

* * *

It took a lot of strength to just walk outside. A part of him had died inside that tent, with Josh.

It was a strange twist, but Emily had suddenly ended up being his pillar of strength, the one who understood and sympathised.

Mark had been crying quietly, just letting the tears fall. Emily clutched his arm, as if she was sharing his pain. Maybe she was.

"He's in a better place now." Emily said.

"Yes." Mark managed. But he still felt responsible. He still felt guilty.

"Mark…" He glanced at her. She was looking up at him. Her blue eyes were full of concern. "I'm here if you need me."

She meant it too. Sometimes, in the most painful moments, a shoulder was more soothing than any antidepressant or painkiller. A good friend was willing to offer that comfort.


	8. Lurking threat

There was no reason to stay in Vegas now.

The following morning, they gathered their equipment and began to walk to Camp McCarran.

Nobody spoke about Mark's brother. They'd guessed and knew that Mark didn't want to talk about what had happened.

He just wanted to get out of Vegas and get on with this mission the NCR had lined up for them.

The sun was out again, slowly baking the dirt and tarmac. NCR soldiers on patrol sweating and complained as they stumbled through the heat.

Camp McCarran had been an airport before the war. Its size and monorail network made it useful for the NCR. Mark and his group would not be using the monorail; it only went into Vegas and was for NCR VIPs.

Mark paused before entering, aware of the silence. He sighed and turned to face his companions.

"Look, you can stop tiptoeing around me." He told them. "We've got a job to do."

"Alright, Boss." Ghost nodded. "Understood."

"Anything we should know about this guy, Halley?" Mara asked.

"He's a tricky SOB, always prepared." Mark didn't mind talking, just not about Josh, not for the time being. "He runs something of a spy network, he also organises black ops."

"What's black ops?" Emily asked.

"Black operations." Ghost told her. "Secret missions, they tend be dangerous, dirty and better off being denied."

Camp McCarran consisted of several trucks and tents set up outside the terminal building. There were NCR troops milling around, carrying boxes and weapons, on patrol or drinking coffee.

A Ranger carrying an old 308 automatic rifle and a revolver spotted them and approached them. He examined them with a critical frown. "You Kelson?"

"Yes." Mark answered.

"I'm Ranger Colby," the man told him. "Follow me. Sergeant Dunn and Commander Halley are waiting for you."

They followed the Ranger into the terminal. The arrivals' lounge was dark and deserted. Some better lighting couldn't have hurt.

Colby led them into an office on the upper floor. He moved to the right and stood to one side.

Dunn was standing on the left. Dunn was now wearing NCR trooper armour and had a marksman rifle on his back.

Halley was sitting behind the desk. "Mark Kelson." He said the name slowly. "It's been a while."

"Four years." Mark stated. He'd joined the NCR when he was eighteen years old; he'd left at twenty two. "Let's not dwell on our history."

"Agreed." Halley nodded. "But it is interesting to see you leading others."

"Let's cut to the chase." Mark said.

"I was about to." Halley stood up and pulled down a screen at the back of the office. It showed a map of the Mojave, with points marked all over the wasteland. "You're looking at operation Janus."

"Janus?" Ghost folded his arms. "Catchy."

"Seemed like a good codename." Dunn spoke this time.

"We've hired a number of freelancers and mercenaries to retrieve unusual or important items for the NCR, all over the wasteland."

"Have any of them succeeded?" Emily asked.

Dunn rolled his eyes. Colby looked at her as if she was stupid.

"The operation hasn't started yet." Halley stated.

"Oh." Emily looked down at her feet, embarrassed.

"My confidence is waning." Dunn murmured.

"Be quiet, Sergeant." Halley didn't raise his voice, or even change his tone, but Dunn shut his mouth without any protest.

"You're not turning us into some glorified courier service are you?" Jin inquired.

"If I believed that couriers could handle this, I would have hired them instead." Halley answered. "This is no joke, no walk in the park. What you're doing could change the wasteland forever."

"How dramatic." Ghost muttered. "And you want us to head into Legion territory."

"Kelson is familiar with Legion territory. I won't go into detail." Halley said. "You'll need to travel along Lake Mead, past Hoover Dam and up to the vault."

"Why not walk across Hoover Dam?" Mara asked.

"Trust me; it'll be easier and subtler if you move along the lake." Colby told her. "The Legion is watching Hoover Dam, but they're not watching the lake."

"So we need a boat." Ghost thought for a moment. "I know a place where we can find one."

"What else do we need to know?" Mark asked.

"That's about it." Halley said. "Once you find the device, bring it to an open area and call for extraction. If you can't remove the device, radio us anyway and we'll come up with another plan."

"Be sure to visit the quartermaster." Dunn added. "He'll give you some supplies."

"You may leave now." Halley stated. He waited for them to leave before speaking again. "Dunn, I want you keep the Rangers on alert." He glanced at Colby. "I want you to keep an eye on them."

"Yes Commander." Colby saluted and left the office.

Halley glanced at Dunn. "Kelson seems to have changed."

"Is that good or bad, sir?" Dunn inquired.

"I don't know." Halley murmured. "If you can, get me the files on his friends. If not, then we'll let Colby fill in the blanks."

"What about the Legion?"

"Kelson can look after himself, we both know that." Halley sighed and turned on the coffee maker. "We can't alert the Legion to this operation."

"And if they're killed, sir?"

"That's the point." Halley stated. "It won't be a big problem."

* * *

Mark selected a bandolier and stuffed some magazines into it. He also added a sawn-off shotgun to his arsenal. Emily had plenty of pouches and a bandolier of her own, but she was carrying more MFCs than usual, along with two more bags full of medical supplies and a combat knife. Ghost had taken a 12.7mm pistol, along with a silencer. Jin had picked up a 9mm SMG. He also kept the 32 revolver just in case he needed it. Mara was carrying grenades and a machete.

Jin, Mara and Mark were carrying backpacks. Emily had the medical supplies, Ghost was their point-man and weight would make him less effective. Besides, he was carrying everything they'd need to set up a perimeter, including a few mines.

The quartermaster was shaking his head; he didn't like handing out his equipment to people who didn't belong to the NCR.

"I feel sorry for any moron who tries to stop us." Mara smirked, examining the blade of the machete.

Mark opened the breach of the shotgun and loaded two shells. He was carrying the shells for it. Mara didn't like to share ammo. The sawn-off was something of an emergency weapon, if a feral ghoul decided to snack on him then he'd use it, otherwise he'd stick with his carbine.

"There should be plenty of them." Jin said. "The Legion counts."

"Reckon we need anything else?" Ghost inquired.

"I think we've got enough." Mark snapped the shotgun's breach shut and holstered it. "Have you planned the route, Emily?"

"More or less." Emily confirmed. "Ghost said that we should visit this place."

"It's got some old boats." Ghost explained. "We might need one. At the very least we can patch one up and make it float."

"Let's hope so." Emily said, adding her new items to her pip-boy's list.

Mark glanced at his team. Team was an odd word, but they seemed to be one now.

* * *

In hindsight, they should have brought hats or something. Once again, the Mojave sun burned their skin. Mark had lagged a little. Emily and Ghost were ahead of him.

Once again, Emily was filling the silence with questions. Ghost answered as much as he could.

Mark noticed something, for the first time. Emily had a little sunburn, but that didn't explain the raised mark on the back of her neck. It was a burn, but not one from the sun.

As if she knew he was watching, even though she didn't, she adjusted her vault suit and the material covered her neck again.

They were walking towards Camp Golf, they were going to walk along the road to Bitter Springs and find an old dock. They weren't going to swim all the way to the east.

Mark coped with the weight of the backpack, the straps were digging in and he made a mental note to see if he could make them more comfortable when they stopped to rest.

They'd only been walking for thirty minutes, but his throat was already dry. Mara reached for her canteen, but stopped herself, they needed to save water.

Ghost was tolerating the sun, despite his complaints about his skin. Emily didn't complain either. Despite the hardships of the wasteland, she never wanted to return to her vault.

When they finally stopped, they stopped under a large rock for shade. They went through the usual, almost ritualistic, routine of checking their weapons. Sand and heat wasn't good for skin and it wasn't good for weapons either.

Ghost had left for about fifteen minutes before returning with the corpse of a mole rat he'd shot. It wasn't particularly tasty, but it was edible. Once it was cooked, almost to the point of burnt, it was tolerable.

It was better than giant ant meat anyway.

"I prefer Salisbury steak." Mara muttered.

"We're short on restaurants or shops out here." Ghost commented. "Animals are easier to find."

Emily was eating slowly; no doubt the concept of eating a dead animal was very different to eating the mechanically produced food in her vault. There was an open bottle of Nuka-Cola next to her, three quarters left inside.

Ghost didn't care what he ate, his taste buds still worked, but not quite as well. He was the only one who was preparing a piece of radroach meat; he said that it provided protein.

The mole rat carcass was carried away and dumped away from the road. They didn't want any predators to stumble across the camp, Ghost was a good sentry, but even he dreaded deathclaws and cazadores, and for good reasons. Emily had picked up several doses of anti-venom, but cazadores rarely gave their victims a chance to die from stings.

Deathclaws didn't need stings; they just ripped their victims apart.

Ghost crunched on the radroach meat. Emily finished off her drink and settled down to sleep.

Mara sat facing the road, balancing her shotgun across her knees. Jin was sat against the rock, reading a magazine and using the improvised helmet-torch for light. Mark noticed that it was _Boxing Times_, which was appropriate for Jin.

Mark sipped some water from his canteen. He didn't have much to do, so he watched the road. He pulled out his 9mm and examined the pistol. It was plain, apart from a number of notches along the slide. A tally. But he'd stopped counting when he'd left the NCR.

"I'm going to get some sleep." Mara murmured. "Wake me if you need me."

"Sweet dreams." Jin remarked, not looking up from his magazine.

Ghost finished crunching and started to watch the road. He was holding his rifle, the stock was on the ground and the barrel was pointing up at the sky.

"Something on your mind?" Ghost could see Mark examining the pistol.

"Yeah." Mark put the pistol away. "NCR days."

"Don't dwell on the past." Ghost advised. "Nobody's perfect."

Mark said nothing. Ghost was mostly right, yet part of Mark disagreed with him and he didn't know why.

"Will this boat place be guarded?" Mark changed the subject.

"I don't think so." Ghost answered. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning started quietly. They moved at a steady pace, trying not to stop unless they really had to.

The sun wasn't as merciless today, the heat was somewhat bearable. The sky was clear and there was a slight breeze that kept them cool.

The waters of Lake Mead lapped lazily against the shore.

A couple of Lakelurks saw them and watched, not wanting to stray too far from the water.

Mara fired her shotgun at them and they retreated into the water.

They could see the place ahead. There were two large metal sheds with a couple of rusty boats outside. There was a boat ramp leading into the water. A rusted boat, its prow pointed at the sky, sat next to it. It was partially submerged, not a good sign.

"I've never been on a boat." Emily announced.

"You know what they say," Mark said. "You learn something new every day."

"It's a nice day too."

"Maybe we could catch some fish." Jin suggested. "It would make a nice change."

"What's a fish?" Emily asked.

Ghost once again answered her question. Since they knew nothing about his pre-ghoul life, he could have been a teacher for all they knew; he seemed to be knowledgeable and had a knack for passing on that knowledge.

As they approached the place, Mark saw that it was deserted. People didn't have much use for boats. Lakelurks were a hazard, so was rust. At least there weren't any mirelurks in the Mojave wasteland.

The shipyard was eerily quiet. The place was deserted.

Ghost examined one of the boats and grimaced. "Shot."

"Shot?" Mara echoed.

"Literally." Ghost pointed at the bullet holes. "Somebody must have seen it as target practice."

"I think this one might be fine." Jin was stood next to another one. It was sat on a wheeled trailer. "No holes. It even has an outboard."

Ghost climbed onto it and examined it. "Well spotted." He said. "The engine might need some juice, but it should be good enough." He hopped down from the boat. "You might want to check the ramp, see if it's blocked." He advised. "We'll find some fuel."

Mark nodded and walked to the ramp. Emily followed him. She was more interested in the picturesque view than checking the ramp for blockages.

There was a rusted boat in the way. Mark and Emily pushed it out of the way.

"How deep is this lake?" Emily asked.

"It's pretty deep." Mark answered. "They saw that a bomber crashed here once, and that it's still under the lake somewhere." Something occurred to him. "Can you swim?"

"Yes." Emily surprised him. "We had a swimming pool in the vault. Nothing like this though, this is way bigger."

"That's good to know." Mark nodded. "Just in case the boat sinks or something."

"We can't leave." Mara had somehow crept up behind them, her whisper made them jump. "Shh! Stay quiet."

"Why?" Mark asked.

"There's a cazadore nest here."

Mark could only think of one way to sum up the problem. "Shit…"

* * *

**_Sorry about the cliffhanger, I admit that this story is mostly improvised. _**


	9. Bad bargains

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?" Jin hissed.

"Shut up and let me think." Ghost whispered.

The cazadores were, thankfully, asleep. But they wouldn't be for much longer. There were too many of them to kill with gunfire.

Ghost carefully stepped back, gesturing for Jin to follow him. He crept to the edge of the yard, where the others were waiting.

"No good." He murmured.

"What?" Mara had to stop herself from speaking loudly.

"There's way too many to shoot." Ghost explained. "We'd be dead before them."

Mark sighed. "What should we do then?"

"We'll have to find another place." Ghost shrugged. "Emily, what's on your map?"

Emily checked her pip-boy, scrolling through her maps. "We passed a small shack on the way here. It's close to the Lake."

"It's worth a try." Mark decided. "You can lead us there."

"I can?" Emily asked. "Thanks."

Ghost kept an eye on the nest as they crept away. But they were lucky.

The loathsome insects only began to emerge just after they had reached the road again. Even so, they had come perilously close to being killed.

That didn't stop curiosity though.

It was Mara who heard the sound of wings beating.

She turned round and almost froze. Doing so would have been the death of her.

A huge black creature, staring at her with bright orange eyes, was surging towards them. She could see its stinger, a black needle laced with death. It was pointing at her.

Instinct took over. Mara raised her shotgun, took aim and fired.

The cazadore, for all its venom and speed, wasn't very tough. The pellets shredded it and it fell as a limp heap of wings and shattered carapace.

But the shot had alerted the nest. In hindsight, it would have been better if Ghost had noticed it first.

"Fuck!" Mara spat.

"Run!" Mark ordered.

They did just that, taking off as fast as they could. But even if they had a head start, the cazadores would catch them and they would kill them. It wouldn't be quick and it certainly wouldn't be painless.

"We need to split up," Jin called. "If we thin them out we might have a chance."

"Go!" Mark agreed on impulse and they split into two groups. Mark didn't look back, he no idea who was with who.

He stumbled across the shack Emily had told them about. He didn't like the idea of shutting himself inside the tiny box.

What about the Lake?

Cazadores couldn't swim, they might lose him. On the other hand, the lakelurks probably wouldn't.

To hell with it, he'd be better off, better than sealing himself inside a metal shack.

He ran along the shore and jumped in. He didn't surface immediately, the cazadores could still be following him.

He only went up when his lungs began to burn. He kicked up and gulped down air, turning round with his pistol in his hand.

The cazadores hadn't bothered to leave the shore. They were swarming around the shack.

Was somebody in there? Who?

He had a mental image of Emily, stuck inside the shack and terrified.

There wasn't anything he could do. He couldn't help if he was dead.

He'd spotted some sort of platform, made out of barrels and metal sheets, floating ahead of him.

He swam to it and pulled himself up. He wanted to rest, but he couldn't take the risk yet.

He unslung his carbine and checked the platforms, just in case some lakelurks were waiting for him.

But the place was deserted. He returned to the central platform and sat down.

This must have been set up by scavengers who wanted to find wealth at the bottom of the Lake. Maybe they had made it down the lakebed, but they hadn't made it back up again.

Something moved. Something under the surface.

Mark stood up and aimed his carbine at the disturbance.

It broke the surface, gasping for air. It wasn't a lakelurk.

Mark stared in surprise. It was Emily. She must have followed him or had the same idea.

He reached down and helped her onto the platform.

"Thanks." She panted.

"Great minds think alike." Mark commented. "Did you see any of the others?"

"I thought I saw Mara before I jumped into the water." Emily answered. "No-one else though."

Mark looked back at the shore. The cazadores were still there, some of them were buzzing around the shack and the others were sitting on the sand. They were waiting for their prey to return.

Mark was happy to disappoint them.

"We're stuck here." Emily stated.

"They'll give up eventually." Mark said. "Hopefully we won't be here for long."

It took them a few minutes to relax though. There was still the threat of the lakelurks. But if they had seen Mark and Emily they didn't seem to be interested.

Emily had stood up and was examining the objects on the metal shelves. She kept fiddling with a radio. Mark had initially been annoyed by the incessant clicking of the dial, but he started to cope. It kept Emily happy in one of her odd ways, so he let her tinker with it.

It was odd, despite her flaws or the ways she accidentally irritated him he couldn't help but like her.

She finally found a working signal. Jazz music wafted out of the speakers. She put the radio down and smiled, content to listen to the music.

The sun was starting to set. The cazadores hadn't left.

"Is this edible?" Emily had found a can of pork 'n beans on a shelf.

Mark inspected the can, opened it and tested a piece slowly. "Seems to be." He smirked. "At least we have dinner."

* * *

They shared the can over an improvised fire as night fell. There was purified water on another platform, they drank those and settled down for a while. The radio stayed on.

Emily was sat next to it. Her auburn hair almost glowed in the firelight. Their weapons had been put to one side, hopefully they would dry out. The guns would probably work, but it was safer to dry out the laser rifle.

Mark stood up and gestured for her to the same. They were the only ones here, so he decided to swallow his pride.

"Is something wrong?" Emily asked.

"No, not all." Mark told her. "I just wanted to show you something."

"Show me what?"

"Well, you like music," Mark said. "We're stuck here until the cazadores leave. I might as well show you how to dance."

Emily thought about this, slightly befuddled. Then she smiled. "Okay."

All he really had to show her was how to move with the rhythm, and then she was in her element.

Mark was almost taken by surprise, but they laughed and danced until they were too tired to do anything else.

* * *

Mark had intended to stay awake and keep an eye out for trouble, but he had fallen asleep anyway.

There was something warm against him.

Mark glanced to the left. Emily was sleeping next to him; she had probably turned over in her sleep and draped an arm across him. Nothing particularly intimate, but Mark still felt his heart beat faster.

He didn't want to wake her, but he had to get up. Mark carefully moved her arm off his chest.

Emily stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She blushed slightly and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"At least you're warm." Mark smiled.

Emily's blush intensified. "Sorry."

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." Mark told her. He chuckled quietly, looking at her face. "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

Emily's cheeks turned even redder and she looked down at her feet, trying to hide her face.

Mark decided not to push any further. He stood up and walked onto one of the other platforms.

No lakelurks, nothing. Just a clear sky, clear water and a boat.

A boat? Where had that come from?

The touch of a gun is unmistakeable. The barrel gives it away, along with the hint of an early grave.

"Hands behind your head." A male voice growled.

Mark had left his guns on the other platform. He did as he was told.

"Turn around and walk back."

Mark turned around and walked slowly, wondering if he could somehow fight back. But he had caught a glimpse of the gun. It was a double barrelled shotgun; at this range he stood no chance. If he grabbed the gun, his opponent would pull the trigger on an impulse.

One act of defiance would kill him, it would probably get Emily killed too.

Emily saw him and frowned. She realised that he was in trouble and reached for a weapon.

"Ah! Ah!" The man called out. "Don't even try it. Stand up and put your hands up."

Emily did as she was told, she didn't want to get Mark killed.

"Stand next to her." The voice ordered.

Mark walked to the spot and turned around.

Their visitor looked a little crazy. He had a rough beard and dirty hair down to his neck. He didn't look very impressive; he was wearing a dirty vest and trousers that were a little short.

It was the gun that gave him the edge. It looked like a twelve gauge. Mark had seen what Mara's shotgun could do. This one might have fewer shots, but it was enough.

"This is my place." The man stated. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We were chased by cazadores." Mark explained. "We came here to hide."

"You've moved my shit around." The man noticed the radio. "Only I get to move my shit around."

"Sorry." Emily apologised. "We thought…"

"Thought what?" The man interrupted. "That you could come here? Eat my food? Use my radio? Make out?"

"Why does everybody think that?" Mark muttered.

"Shut up!" The man spat. He took a moment to calm down. "Now, I'm not unreasonable. How many caps have you got?"

Mark thought for a moment. It was unlucky, but he didn't have much. "Only seventy-two."

"That's pretty damn useless." The man growled. "How about you leave me something and I'll let you swim back to the shore. If you're lucky, the lakelurks won't get you."

"You want a gun?" Mark asked. "I can give you one."

"Why do I want a gun?" The man frowned. "I've got this, shot plenty of morons like you with it already."

"Then what do you want?"

The man considered. Mark noticed with a sense of dread that his eyes lingering on Emily.

"Her."

"What?" Emily frowned.

"No." Mark stated. "No deal. We'll give you a gun, maybe two, and ammunition."

"You don't get to bargain, prick!" The man snarled. "I get what I want."

"We're just trying to survive, same as you." Emily tried to reason with him. "There's no need for this."

"Fuck you!" He sneered. "Actually that's a very good idea."

Emily didn't understand at first. Even so, it didn't take her long to figure it out.

"Look," Mark stepped forwards, the gun moved to point at him. "You can do what you want to me, just don't hurt her. Please."

"What would I do with you?" The man laughed. "The only thing I want to do to you is kill you."

"How about all of our guns?" Mark suggested. "We've got a laser rifle."

"I don't want any flashy crap." The man said. "I want the bitch. It's a fair trade, you get to live and I have some fun."

There was no way Mark was going to leave Emily with this creep. Not even for all the caps in the world.

"No deal." He snarled.

"Oh well." The man shrugged. "I'll just shoot you and take her anyway." He aimed the gun.

That was a mistake.

He was so focused on Mark, that he wasn't watching Emily.

She threw herself at him. His aim went wild, the shotgun fired but the shot missed and hit the water.

Mark grabbed his pistol and aimed, but Emily was in the way. She was grappling with the man, holding the shotgun with one hand. She lashed out and hit him in the face.

He snarled and brought his knee up, winding her. He kicked her towards Mark.

Mark had no choice; he lifted the gun so that it was pointing harmlessly at the sky. His other hand caught Emily's shoulder.

The shotgun was aimed at his head again. "She's a handful, isn't she?" The man chuckled, despite the blood flowing from his nose. "Don't worry, I'll make her pay. But first…" He aimed down the sights. "Your brains are going to decorate that wall."

Mark still had his pistol, but there was no way he could aim and fire before the crazed gunman pulled the trigger.

He was more concerned about Emily though. He'd die and she'd be left with this madman. This sick bastard had made his intentions clear.

Mark was suddenly enraged at the thought. He no longer cared if he got shot.

He bought the pistol down, taking aim. Maybe he could fire, maybe he couldn't, but he would go down fighting. Maybe Emily could take the gun when he died and use it to finish the job.

The platform jerked.

They all stumbled. The shotgun boomed, but the shot was off target again.

Mark steadied himself and took aim.

But it wasn't necessary.

The man saw something jump onto the platform, right next to him.

He screamed. The creature was tall and green skinned and was like something out of a nightmare.

The first shot had disturbed a lakelurk. It had spotted them and had decided that a human would make a decent breakfast.

It grabbed the man and dragged him down into the water. The last thing Mark saw of him was a trail of red float up to the surface.

Lakelurks rarely travelled alone.

Mark heard something, like a wet towel hitting the ground, and saw another one on the platform.

He saw it lean back, opening its mouth.

Mark fired the pistol. Three bullets hit the creature, the first hit it in the neck and the other two hit it in the head. The creature toppled back into the water.

Emily had grabbed her laser rifle. Mark reached down and picked up his carbine, he had no time to check the magazine.

A lakelurk clambered up on the left. Its welcome was a burning red lance to the face.

Another one appeared, Mark riddled it with bullets and it flopped onto the metal, blood ran into the water.

It would attract more of them. They were like sharks, even though Mark didn't really know what a shark was.

He fired another burst, the empty casings rattled against the metal sheets after being spat out by the gun. Another lakelurk toppled, but they were coming faster than they could kill them.

Emily needed to reload. Mark moved to cover her and squeezed the trigger.

The carbine clicked uselessly.

Empty or jammed? It didn't matter. Mark reached for his sidearm and opened fire, killing another lakelurk. The 9mm clicked too.

Emily had reloaded and stepped in front of him, covering him. She was giving him vital seconds to reload; it was her turn to hold the line.

Mark reloaded as quickly as he could. A lakelurk lurched towards him.

He grabbed the sawn-off with one hand, yanked it out and fired. The pellets shredded the lakelurk's head, spraying gore and blood into the water. The lakelurk followed the mess into Lake Mead.

The creatures were getting closer. Too close.

One of them prepared to use its sonic attack.

It jerked suddenly. Blood hit the improvised metal wall next to its head. Another lakelurk shared the same fate.

Mark saw the sunlight glinting off something on the shore. Even if he hadn't seen it, he knew whose marksmanship was saving them.

Ghost had found them.

Mark considered trying to reach the boat, but there were too many lakelurks in the way. It was a rowing boat too, it would be too slow.

"Go!" Mark ordered.

Emily understood, she moved past him and jumped into the water.

Mark emptied his carbine's magazine and then followed her.

There was a moment of confusion, everything was muffled. The bodies of dead lakelurks floated around him, along with blood.

A severed arm floated past. It had been the arm of the crazed man with a shotgun.

Something hit his leg. He felt claws.

A lakelurk had just grabbed him. What was it going to do? Hold him down until he drowned? Or rip his leg off?

He never found out.

Something swept past him and a cloud of red erupted from the lakelurk's head. It let go and floated away.

Not all guns worked underwater, but knives did. Emily sheathed the combat knife and pulled him up for air.

Ghost couldn't keep them covered; he had to reload more frequently.

Letting adrenaline take over, Mark moved as quickly as he could, Emily kept up with him.

The next few moments seemed to pass in seconds. Being chased by lakelurks was good motivation.

The next thing Mark knew was that he had reached the shore. Emily reached down and pulled him onto his feet.

Jin was there too, the 9mm SMG rattled as he fired.

The lakelurks, the few of them left alive, decided not to pursue their prey and retreated.

Nobody spoke for a few moments.

"A _thank you _would be nice." Ghost remarked.

"Thank you." Emily said.

"How did you know we were there?" Mark asked.

"We were looking for you." Ghost answered. "I heard gunshots and then I saw the lakelurks and figured it out."

"What about Mara?" Emily asked.

"I'm here." Mara had been behind Jin. "I tried to follow you two, but those cazadores cut me off. So I shut myself inside that shack."

"I bet that was fun." Jin smirked.

"I used to have nightmares about that kind of thing."

"What about you and Jin?" Mark asked Ghost.

"Didn't look back." Ghost stated. "We ended up in Bitter Springs. We decided to look for you after nightfall. We found Mara thirty minutes ago."

"My pride is dented." Mara muttered.

"So is that shack." Ghost shrugged. "What now, Boss?"

Mark didn't really know. "I guess we have to find another boat." He said after a few moments. "But after this morning, I think I'd prefer to walk."


	10. Backup plans

Feet were more than just aching as they walked down the road. As Mara had put it; her blisters had blisters.

Mara was keeping an eye out for cazadors. She didn't want to repeat yesterday's events.

Mark had considered going up to Bitter Springs to rest, but the residents hated the NCR. Even an ex-NCR soldier wouldn't be welcome.

They'd left the shipyard and the cazador nest behind a while ago, but Mark couldn't blame Mara for being wary.

"Where exactly are we going?" Jin asked.

It was a good question. Mark didn't really know.

"I don't know." He admitted. "We still need a boat, unless you want to swim all the way to this vault."

"Wandering aimlessly gets my vote then." Jin muttered. He glanced at Emily. "Since we're going to one, what can we expect from a vault?"

"I'm not sure." Emily answered.

"But you lived in one."

"They're not the same." She stated. "They're different, they all have different purposes."

"You mean that they protected people?"

"No."

"What then?"

Emily didn't respond. There was a haunted look in her eyes.

"Emily?" Jin frowned.

"I don't want to talk about it." She murmured.

"But…"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" She snapped.

They all paused. They had never seen Emily act like this, she had never been so angry.

She was glaring at Jin, her hands were curled into fists and she was shaking with rage.

Jin held up his hands submissively. "Okay. I'm sorry."

Mara reached out to put a hand on Emily's shoulder, to try to calm her down.

Emily shrugged the hand away. She looked like she was about punch someone.

A few tense seconds passed. Then Emily turned and stormed off.

Mark shared a glance with Ghost. The ghoul just shrugged. Mark sighed and led them after Emily.

It took her a minute or two to calm down. She had slowed down and was looking at her feet in the same way she did when upset.

Nobody spoke.

When one of them did, it came as a surprise.

Mark was at the front, leading the group. Mara quickened her pace and caught up to him.

"Mark, are you feeling okay?" She asked quietly.

"Mostly." Mark stated. "Why?"

"You never talk about Josh." She said. "Do you want to talk?"

"No thanks, Mara."

"I know what it's like, Mark." She laid a hand on his arm. Her expression was honest and open. Mara rarely showed her feelings. She was physically and mentally tough; this was a side of her personality that Mark hadn't seen before. "If you want to talk, I'm here."

Mark didn't know what to say. Emily had offered the same help, but she was in no mood to talk.

He didn't notice a little pang of jealously in Emily's eyes, along with little hints of hopelessness, loneliness and finally resignation.

"Why do you care, Mara?" Mark asked. "You've never been like this."

Mara shrugged. "I do care." She said. "You just seem to get on better with Ghost and Emily."

"You said you knew how I felt."

"I lost a brother too." She explained. "He was killed by some Nightkin."

She was being honest. Despite her toughness, Mara had a tendency to be soft.

"You're not alone, Mark." She said. "Whatever happened in the NCR, you've got friends. Sometimes, that's all you need."

Mark accepted her words. "Thanks, Mara."

"I'm not just good with a shotgun." She shrugged. "We're in this together, it doesn't hurt to talk."

* * *

They stopped on the side of the road as the sun had gone down. Ghost had gone to hunt something for food.

Mark glanced at the people around the fire. Ghost had some sort of past, but he couldn't remember it and he never tried to find it. He didn't want to dwell on whatever life he'd had before becoming a ghoul. Mark could understand that, he was probably a different person now.

He knew that Emily had one, but she didn't want to talk about it. He knew a bit about Mara, she didn't let her past weigh her down. Jin didn't seem to have any issues. Maybe he'd been traumatised, although Mark suspected that his biggest problem was something to do with women or gambling.

Mara was talking to Emily, showing her to sharpen the combat knife.

Jin was checking the pneumatic drivers in his power fist. He had a certain confidence with machinery and tools, he could repair and maintain his power first with his eyes shut.

Mark knew that he could, Jin had done it for a bet and Mara had lost five caps.

Ghost came back. "Sorry. There was a gecko, but the nightstalkers beat me to it." He held up a couple of dead squirrels. "Squirrel stew will have to do."

Nobody seemed to be enthusiastic about eating dead squirrels.

"What?" Ghost shrugged. "Trust me, it might taste like chicken."

"What is a chicken?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure." Jin said. "But everybody says that all meat tastes like one."

Ghost took out his knife and began to skin the squirrels. "Don't tell me that I'm dining alone."

"No." Mark shook his head. "None of us want to starve."

"There's some sensible thinking." Ghost approved. "Get me a pot; it's my turn to do the cooking."

* * *

Ghost kept watch during the night, keeping his rifle by his side.

He had sharp eyes. It was those eyes that allowed him to spot the figures in the distance.

Ghost picked up his rifle and flicked the night-vision on. Everything went green, he was able to see the figures.

They were far away, walking along the road.

He saw a plume. Only one faction used plumes.

Caesar's Legion.

He swore quietly and roused Mark. "Get up, Mark."

"It's my turn to keep watch?" Mark asked drowsily.

"No, company's coming." Ghost explained. "Caesar's Legion."

Mark bolted upright, suddenly awake and grabbing his carbine. "How close?"

"If we move now, we might be able to get away." Ghost said. "We have a head start, if we can find a boat we could leave them behind."

"Camp Guardian." Mark recalled. "It's NCR, they'll help us."

"Good." Ghost stood up. "Get the others up, we need to move fast and leave even faster."

* * *

Severus didn't have the advantage of a night scope. Ghost had just saved his friends' lives.

They had expected to find the group asleep. They would have taken them and interrogated them. After that, it was up to Caesar. Crucifixion or slavery.

But they were long gone.

"They must have seen us." Marcus stated the obvious.

"Then we will follow them." Severus murmured.

Marcus glanced at the Praetorian. He didn't like Severus, and that was an understatement.

In truth, he wanted to replace the Praetorian.

Maybe he could arrange an "accident" and either pay the other soldiers to shut up. He could always arrange "accidents" for them too.

Yes, this line of work was very dangerous indeed.

Marcus shouldered his SMG. He'd wait until they had killed their targets. Then he'd take care of Severus.

* * *

Camp Guardian had few sentries on watch. They had apparently been hearing odd noises and were keeping an eye out, at least for a while.

The soldiers weren't prepared to give them a boat, not until they had orders from their superiors.

Jin got the slightly battered radio running again.

"Mercury calling Jupiter." Mark spoke into the device.

"I still think those are crap codenames." Jin said.

"What would you use?" Mara inquired.

"If I was the NCR, I'd use something like delta or alpha or something like that."

"This is Jupiter, go ahead." Dunn's voice responded.

"We're at Camp Guardian," Mark explained. "We need a boat."

"We'll send one down from Camp Golf." Dunn said. "Anything else?"

"The Legion isn't far behind." Mark added. "Make sure that the boat gets here quick. Alert any NCR patrols on the roads to Golf, Guardian or Bitter Springs."

"Normally the Rangers tell me to do that." Dunn muttered. "Over and out."

Mark switched off the radio. "We'd better settle down for the night." He surmised. "Jin, keep an eye out for the boat."

"Why me?" Jin complained.

"Because it's your turn." Mark stated. "Don't you keep track?"

"Why would I keep track of that?" Jin muttered. "There are better things to count."

They were at the edge of the camp, on the shore. Mara had decided to stay awake with Jin, to keep an eye out for lakelurks. He could see her walking slowly up the shore, shotgun at the ready.

Mark noticed Emily sitting on the shingle. She'd taken her boots off and was letting the water flow over her feet.

He sat down next to her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Is this about what happened on the road?"

"You mean when I snapped at Jin?" She sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. If anybody so much as mentions a vault, I get scared or angry."

"It's not your fault." Mark said. "We've all got weaknesses."

Emily didn't say anything. She lowered her head and pulled her knees up to her chest.

Mark had figured out that it meant insecurity and lack of confidence.

He put his arm around her shoulders. She didn't protest, in fact she inched a little closer to him. They were touching, shoulders together.

There was nothing apart from the sound of water rippling along the shore and the stars in the sky.

Emily rested her head on his shoulder. Mark felt a sudden whirl in his chest.

Maybe he was misinterpreting this. But…

He noticed that she was looking up at him. She was very close; he could actually pick up her scent.

Mark leaned a little closer to her. Emily's lips parted slightly. There was a hopeful look in her eyes, a yearning.

"The boat's coming!" Ghost called.

Mark reluctantly turned and saw the lights approaching in the darkness. Any chance to recover the moment was lost when Mara and Jin appeared, waving flashlights to guide the boat in.

Mark sighed and stood up. Emily put her boots back on followed him up the shore.

He looked calm, but Mark's mind was in a flurry. If Ghost hadn't called out, he was pretty sure that he would have kissed Emily.

He wanted to kiss her too. He had no idea if she felt the same way. But he recalled the moment and realised she hadn't tried to stop him. She'd wanted him to kiss her.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now.

Feeling like he'd been cheated, Mark stepped onto the boat. It was an old fishing boat with a fifty calibre machine gun mounted on the front. Evidently it was meant to attract as little attention as possible, there were no flags and the paint was peeling off.

Mark noticed that Emily was blushing. Well, maybe that was a good sign. So was the nervous smile she gave him.

"You must be Kelson." The man driving the boat was middle aged and wearing a grimy wasteland outfit. There was a 357 magnum on his belt, along with a hatchet.

"Yeah, that's me." Mark shook an oily hand.

"Nathan Briggs." The man introduced himself. "NCR hires my _Lucy_. I'm the only one crazy enough to sail into Legion territory."

"Lucy?" Emily inquired.

"My boat." Briggs stated. "Needed a name. _Lucy _is easy to remember."

"Why not something like… Bob?"

Briggs glanced at Mark, who shrugged. "Erm… Let's discuss boat names another time." He walked up to the controls. "Where are we going?"

"Dunn didn't tell you?" Mark didn't actually know what the vault number was.

"Vault two-two-five." Emily read it off her pip-boy.

"That place?" Briggs murmured. "You know that nobody leaves that place sane? That's if they leave alive."

"Maybe we'll be the first to leave sane." Ghost said. "Or is that too crazy for you?"

Briggs huffed. "Very well. First class to certain death, all aboard." He grunted. "Nobody throw up! I just cleaned this can."

* * *

_**Before anybody hassles me over Camp Guardian, the "strange noises" are Lakelurks. As soon as the group is clear, they'll probably head up and take the NCR soldiers, and the Courier can come across the mess later. Planning is mostly complete, so I can get this done.  
**__**I know that the romance is a little clumsy, I'm not very good at such things. I'll try to improve as I go along. **_


	11. Blood in the dark

The old boat chugged up Lake Mead. It was hardly subtle.

"How far to this vault?" Mark had to speak loudly over the sound of the engine.

"It's here." Emily showed him the map on her pip-boy. It showed that vault 225 was located northeast of the Legion's base, the Fort. "Not too far now."

If the Legion spotted them, they'd send reinforcements to make their lives much shorter and a lot more painful.

The grey light of a dull morning seeped over the water. They'd passed Hoover Dam last night.

They were entering hostile territory now.

Mara was standing next to the MG, just in case they needed it. It was a last resort; the 50cal would make a hell of a racket.

Ghost was watching out for snipers. No lakelurks had followed them. Maybe they avoided the Legion too.

There was still the question of the vault. What was inside?

Emily wasn't willing to talk about any vault, hers included. She either wouldn't or couldn't talk about them.

"I'm pretty sure that the Legion can track us." Ghost shook his head. "This tin can makes too much noise."

"Would you rather swim?" Briggs demanded.

"No. You've made your point."

"And don't call _Lucy _a tin can!"

Ghost shrugged and turned back to watch the shore. Jin had given up trying to sleep and was working on some of the scrap he was carrying.

Apart from the noise of the engine, the journey had been quiet. Until the Legionaries found a boat, they'd be out of reach.

Mark hoped that they managed to complete their mission quickly; he didn't want to fight the Legion on their own turf. He'd done that before, it hadn't gone well.

"What's this?" Emily had, being curious, picked up a magazine Briggs had left on the deck.

"It's about computers." Mark noticed the cover. "Your kind of thing."

Emily opened it and began to read it. Mark noticed that she read quickly, she turned pages every few seconds.

Ghost pointed at a cliff. "Legion."

"Mara, get on the gun." Mark instructed. "Fire if we come under attack."

Mara took aim with the heavy machinegun. It was an old gun, but it looked menacing.

Mark could see the men on the cliff. They had definitely noticed the boat, they were pointing at them. He checked the magazine of his carbine. He doubted that it would cause much damage at this range, but it couldn't hurt to have it ready.

Something pinged off the hull.

"They're shooting my _Lucy_!" Briggs complained. "Teach 'em a lesson."

Mara fired a short burst from the machinegun, it was incredibly loud. Large bullet casings were flung out of the side as it threw bullets at the soldiers on the cliff.

One of them fell to the ground; his arm had been ripped off.

Rather than run away, the smart option, the soldiers decided to stay and fight, the stupid option.

They were determined, but they were no match for the machinegun.

Mara let loose with a longer burst, Ghost provided more precise shots with his rifle. Emily was firing too, Mark's carbine was too inaccurate for long range combat and Jin's weapons had no chance either.

They let Mara deal with the legionaries. Jin became useful when the gun needed a reload, it wasn't easy or quick.

The legionaries were starting to retreat, finally seeing sense.

But they would be back with reinforcements.

"Can this boat go any faster?" Mark asked.

"_Lucy's _already going at full speed." Briggs answered.

Mark had expected that. If they were unlucky, the Legion would come back with more soldiers and heavy weapons.

They didn't have much tech, but he'd seen them carrying grenade launchers. A rocket launcher wasn't unlikely to appear either.

"That was loud." Emily stated. "_Really _loud."

"You'll get used to it." Mark told her. "I just hope we don't have to use that gun too often."

* * *

Mark's fears went unfounded, for the time being anyway. They carried on without incident.

It was early in the afternoon when they finally saw it. If Emily hadn't confirmed the location on her pip-boy, they might have missed it.

There was a rickety wooden door set into the short cliff on the east bank. Emily explained that many vaults had their larger doors hidden away.

Briggs stopped the boat on the shore; he agreed to wait for them.

Mark jumped ashore with his group. He had his carbine out, just in case there were lakelurks or legionaries waiting for them.

"Clear." He announced.

Ghost knelt down in front of the wooden door and examined the lock.

"Good luck in there," Briggs called from his boat. "If you come out giggling, I'll shoot you."

"Thanks," Mara responded, then added quietly: "I think."

Ghost shook his head. "It's not even locked." He muttered. "Even if it was, it's so flimsy one of us could kick it down." He moved away, leaving Jin to take the handle. Mara aimed her shotgun at the door and nodded.

Jin opened the door outwards. Mara braced herself.

Nothing happened.

Mara went in first, shotgun up and ready for any surprises. Jin followed her, backed up by Mark and Emily. Ghost came last, keen eyes watching for trouble.

At the end of the slightly damp passageway was a large, round metal door.

The numbers 225 were painted in yellow on its surface. There was a panel on the left side, with a computer next to it.

"Emily, can you open it?" Mark asked.

Emily nodded, but didn't move.

"Emily?" Ghost frowned.

"I… don't want to." Emily murmured. "There could be anything inside."

"We'll deal with it." Mark stated. "Go on. Once it's open you can stay outside if you want."

Emily considered. "No, I'll come with you."

"Good girl." Jin nodded, trying to avoid showing his discomfort. They were all nervous.

Emily stepped up to the computer and activated it. The screen flashed into life and green text crawled across it.

Emily flexed her fingers, and then her fingers began to dance across the keyboard, typing in commands at speed but never getting them wrong.

Even so, the computer was evidently trying to resist. Emily was concentrating, still rattling away at the keyboard. Her face was bathed in green light as she worked.

"You're not writing a novel, Emily." Mara muttered.

"Let me concentrate." Emily requested. "If I get this wrong, the security systems will kill us."

"How?" Jin asked.

Ghost pointed up at the ceiling. There were three square objects, made of metal, with blinking red lights.

"Turrets." Ghost explained. "Let her work."

It was unnerving knowing that every tap from Emily's fingers could result in being shredded or saved. Emily didn't tell them what she was doing or how close she was succeeding.

Emily finished typing after another minute. Then she reached for the panel, her hand hovered over a lever.

She took a deep breath and pulled it down.

An alarm began to blare. The vault door clanked and slid backwards, the tunnel was filled with a loud whine as the metal door scraped against its frame. The door rolled to one side, showing the vault's entrance.

"We should be ready." Emily lifted her laser rifle.

"What for?" Mara asked.

"Anything." Emily stated. "Listen, I know that I've never said much about vaults, but they were all experiments. Some of them killed people, or drove them insane. I have no idea what's in this one."

"Well, when you put it like that." Jin murmured as he prepared his power fist.

"So your home was an experiment." Mara surmised. "I see why you don't want to talk about it."

"Enough chatter." Mark declared. "The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can leave."

They stepped into a small chamber, made of metal now. As they had expected, it was devoid of life. There was evidence of violence, but the darkness and silence was unnerving.

"I can barely see." Mara muttered.

Emily turned brightened the screen of her pip-boy, turning it into a sort of torch. Jin also had the helmet-torch he had made.

It felt odd to be walking in a place with the earth above, it felt like they were being crushed.

Emily didn't seem to feel the same fear, she was afraid of something inside the vault instead of the heavy weight above their heads.

"Where should we go?" Jin asked Emily.

"I'm not sure; vaults tend to differ in their design." She whispered. "If you spot another computer, let me hack it and I'll see what I can find."

They began to move slowly, none of them could shake off a nagging fear that something was going to ambush them at any moment.

Lights flickered along the corridors, illuminating dust and dirt. In some places, there was dried blood.

"Cosy." Jin commented.

"Quiet!" Ghost hissed.

They found a small room on the left, with a working terminal. It looked like a security office.

Emily sat down at the desk and began to hack into the computer as the others watched the corridor.

"I'm in." She stated. Mark joined her by the computer. "I've got some layouts, the reactor is here; in the centre of the vault."

"At least we know where we're going." Mark murmured. "Anything else?"

"Just some logs. The last one was dated just after the war." Emily didn't look from the screen. "It says something about security malfunctioning slightly."

"Where is everyone?"

"It's been years." Emily said. "They might have died of old age." She paused, and then added in a low murmur: "I hope they did."

Mark frowned, wondering why she had thought that. He decided not to pursue an answer.

"Mark, this place creeps me out." Mara muttered. "And I don't get scared easily."

"You were scared of those cazadores." Jin said.

"For good reasons."

"This place is deserted though." Ghost murmured. "What the hell happened here?"

Emily downloaded the map onto her pip-boy. "Here's the closest route." She pointed at it. "We'll have to go through the dormitories. It might be a good, or bad, idea to go to the Overseer's office." She pointed at it on her pip-boy. "That's here, just above the reactor room."

"Maybe he'll invite us in for a drink." Jin muttered. "Seeing how we broke into his abandoned vault."

"Shut up, Jin." Mara sighed.

"Let's get moving." Mark picked up his carbine. "We'll head to the Overseer's office first; maybe we can learn more or disable security there."

"Sounds good to me, Boss." Ghost nodded. "Jin, Mara, take point."

There was very little sound, except for their footsteps, and little light, except for the two lights they had. There wasn't much to see, everything was dirty and covered in rust. Some of the doors had been jammed shut or broken inwards.

"Looks like a Deathclaw barged through here." Mark muttered.

"No claws." Ghost pointed at a mark on the door. "That looks like a dent from something blunt, a hammer or a super sledge."

"Great," Jin sighed. "A murdering psychopath was running around here."

Emily shivered. She'd done the same thing when Mara had mentioned cannibals.

"Emily?" Mark had noticed her reaction.

"I'm okay." She lied.

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm okay." Emily murmured. "Can we keep moving?"

Mark nodded and gestured for the others to follow him. It was a shame they had left the flashlights at Camp Guardian, but they had belonged to the NCR garrison.

Ghost stopped suddenly. "What was that noise?"

They all paused.

Listening carefully, Mark could hear a scraping sound, like claws. There was a low sound, like a groan.

"A survivor?" Mara whispered.

"Not likely." Ghost muttered.

"We've got to check." Mara insisted. "Where is it coming from?"

Ghost looked around. "It sounds close." He said. "I think it's getting closer."

Emily pointed up at something. "The air ducts." She whispered. "It's in the ducts."

All of their weapons went up.

The groaning had come closer, but as they listened it began to move further away. Mark noticed that the ducts went to the left. Evidently whatever was in the ducts couldn't get out yet.

He didn't like this, none of them did. That was an understatement. Mark could see the muzzle of his carbine shaking slightly.

The sounds finally ceased, the thing in the duct was gone.

Mark gestured for them to follow him in silence.

They moved very slowly, with Mara and Mark in front with Ghost watching their backs.

The thought of something stalking them was unnerving. It would have been bad enough to find the place devoid of life, but this was worse. Fear of the unknown was a terrible thing.

"Door." Mara breathed. She pointed at a metal door on the right side of the corridor.

Mark took the right side, Mara took the left.

Emily moved the panel as Ghost and Jin watched both ends of the corridor.

Emily pushed the button and the door slid open.

A foul stench hit them, as did a swarm of flies that came buzzing out.

Emily screamed. Mara reacted quickly by clamping her hand over Emily's mouth.

Mark could understand why she had screamed, he was struggling not to.

The corpses in the room had been dead for a while, their flesh was rotting and there was dried blood on the floor, walls and ceiling. Maggots were writhing around.

Mark closed the door. He couldn't find any words. None of them could.

Mara slowly moved her hand away from Emily's mouth. She didn't scream, but she was shaking and staring with wide eyes full of distress. There was something else there too, remembrance.

"What the hell happened here?" Ghost repeated, only quieter and with a little more fear.

It was something they didn't really want to know, but it looked like they were going to find out anyway.


	12. Denizens

_**This chapter will be pretty spooky. I don't specialise in horror, this is based on my own experiences in vaults and some other spooky things I've seen.**_

* * *

The sounds were returning. Whatever was hiding in the ducts was crawling back up the corridor.

It must have heard Emily's scream.

Their weapons went up, waiting for whatever was coming for them.

_Thud, thud, growl, thud, thud, growl._

The five of them didn't move or make a sound, afraid of drawing whatever was in the ducts towards them.

The sounds began to fade; evidently the ducts didn't lead in the right direction.

"This was a mistake." Ghost murmured. "We should leave."

"What about the caps?" Jin whispered.

"Who gives a damn about the caps?" Ghost growled. "Something is wrong here and whatever is up there isn't friendly."

"Quiet." Mark hissed. "We're here now, we might as well see if we can find that power source. Then we'll leave and the NCR can do whatever it likes with this hellhole."

Ghost was clearly toying with the idea of leaving the vault. Like Mara, he didn't scare easily.

"Okay, Boss." He nodded. "Let's get this over with."

"What about you, Emily?" Mark could see her face in the glow of her pip-boy. She was clearly terrified.

She nodded slowly, but didn't speak. She was gripping her laser rifle tightly enough to turn her knuckles white.

Ghost had a point, Mark was also tempted to just turn around and leave.

But they had come too far to quit now.

Mark began to walk into the gloom. His companions followed slowly.

They knew that something was waiting for them, but it was either prowling noisily or making no noise at all. It was like it was trying to scare them just by existing.

It was very cold inside the metal corridors, unlike the bright world outside.

Hell was supposed to be hot and fiery; this place felt more like an underworld.

They found some stairs and descended deeper into the vault. The two lights they had were barely repelling the darkness.

There a smell in the air, of damp and rot.

Mark felt something cold and liquid as he reached the last step. His imagination toyed with him and told him that he was standing in blood.

Jin shone his light on the liquid. "Water," he whispered. "Their water tank must have broken or something."

It was going to make them easier to hear though.

There was more thudding in the ducts and they all stopped.

It was definitely following them.

"We should keep moving." Ghost murmured. "There's nothing we can about it now."

They sloshed as quietly as they could through the dormitories. Their nerves and stomachs were tested by broken skeletons and bodies with torn flesh lying in the rooms.

The thing in the ducts was still following them.

Mara nearly turned round to fire at the ducts, but Ghost stopped her before she could pull the trigger.

The last thing they wanted to do now was attract attention with a gunshot. As long as the ducts were intact and they didn't come across an opening, the thing inside wouldn't be able to attack, or so they hoped.

"The dorms." Ghost whispered.

"What about them?" Mark asked.

"They're all empty." Ghost explained. "Apart from a few bloodstains and bones, there is nobody here except for that thing in the vents."

"Suppose we're hallucinating?" Jin suggested. "Maybe that's what this vault is all about."

"Can't take that chance." Mara murmured. "I think this is real."

Ghost held up his hand, they all stopped.

"Listen." The ghoul hissed.

They all heard a distant screeching sound, like a blackboard being scratched.

"I can't hear anything." Jin muttered.

"The door." Emily stated. "It's shut."

"Can you get it open again?" Mark asked.

"Maybe."

"We should never have come here." Jin muttered. "We're going to die down here!"

"Not if we work together." Mark countered. "We're getting out of here, alive and sane."

He didn't wait for an argument before walking ahead.

To his relief, they continued to follow him. Unfortunately, so did the thing in the ducts.

The next set of stairs led up to the atrium, according to the signs anyway.

There was some lightning in the next section, but it was flickering randomly.

Emily was still shaking. Mark didn't know if it was their current situation or if she was recalling life in her old vault. Either way, she was frightened.

_Thud, thud, growl, thud, thud, growl._

It was still following them. It was much closer now.

"The damn thing's in the wall!" Mara hissed, indicating a vent with the barrel of her shotgun.

"Jin, Ghost, keep an eye on that vent." Mark instructed.

"Why I get the feeling that it's waiting for something?" Mara grimaced. "Not us, something else."

They all paused. Jin turned to check the corridor behind them, Emily lifted her wrist and shone her light down the corridor ahead.

Nothing.

_Growl._

"Boss!" Ghost whispered urgently. He had switched to his pistol, sniper rifles weren't much good at close quarters, and he had his knife in his other hand. The pistol was pointing at the vent.

Mark could see something inside, what looked like a pair of eyes. There was also a foul stench, like rotting bodies.

The eyes, although they looked dead and sightless, were staring back at him.

There was another growl, only it wasn't coming from the vent this time.

"Mark?" Emily's voice was shaky.

Mark could see something moving in the distance. The shapes were vaguely humanoid, but they were shambling and stumbling. They also looked starved.

"There's some over here too." Jin warned.

"I don't think they're here to welcome us." Ghost stated, keeping his gun aimed at the one in the vent.

Whatever it was, it had started to throw itself at the vent cover, trying to claw its way through.

Ghost fired his pistol, putting a bullet through its head.

That seemed to make the others mad. They began to move faster, growling and snarling.

That was the cue to start firing. All five of them fired their weapons.

The creatures were tougher than they looked, but they could be killed. The corridor was flashing with gunfire. Blood was streaking along the walls and floor. The sound in the enclosed space was deafening.

The fire fight was brief, but it was something they had wanted to avoid.

"What the fuck were those things?" Jin demanded. "Zombies? We're stuck in here with fucking zombies?"

Ghost calmly walked up to the one of the corpses and examined it. Carefully, he cut a hole in the back of its head with his knife.

"Lobotomites." He stated. "Different though, not to mention feral."

"What's a lobotomite?" Mara frowned. "And how do you know about them?"

"I've seen a few wandering the edges of the wastelands." Ghost explained. "They came from the Big MT apparently. These ones are different. Basically, their brains are replaced with tesla technology." He looked up from the corpse. "They're not especially smart or friendly."

"And they eat people?" Mark asked, nudging one with his boot.

"They have to eat something." Ghost stood up, wiping the blood off his knife. "They don't know how to use tin openers, so yes, they eat people."

Emily shivered again. "We can't leave this place intact."

"What do you mean?"

"The self-destruct." She said. "Every vault has one."

"Having a run-in with these loboto-something zombie things doesn't mean that we need to blow this place up." Jin argued. "Besides, the NCR wants this place."

"What could they want with this place?" Emily countered. "Whatever it was before, it's turned into hell!"

Mark frowned. He remembered that she's said the same thing about her vault; that it had turned into hell.

She had set off the self-destruct. That much was clear. She had destroyed her own vault.

"If we're going to argue," Ghost stepped between them, "then let's argue somewhere defendable."

"There is no argument!" Emily retorted. "We have to destroy this place."

"We're here for that power source." Mark stated. "We're here for the NCR."

"To hell with them!" Emily was suddenly aiming her pistol at his head. "I'm going to destroy this place and you're not going to stop me!"

Jin began to lift his SMG, but Ghost stopped him. Mara had her hand on her sidearm.

"Emily…" Mark began.

"No." She interrupted. "If you won't help me, I'll do it myself." She took a step back. "I have to do this."

"It doesn't have to end like this, Emily." Mark took a step forwards.

"Get back!"

"You're not going to shoot me." Mark took another step. "We're not going to shoot you."

"Please…" Emily held the pistol in a two-handed grip. The gun was still shaking. "Don't come any closer."

"This isn't you, Emily." Mark ignored the gun, focusing on her eyes. "Remember what we talked about, what we've done."

"Stop it!" She yelled.

Mara was aiming her 44 at Emily, but she clearly didn't want to pull the trigger.

"You're not going to do this, Emily." Mark's head was almost touching the 10mm pistol. He slowly reached out and moved the gun away. "Listen to me. I agree with you." He was being honest, they could all tell. "As soon as we find this power source, we'll tell the NCR to retrieve it. Then they can destroy this place, I'll make sure that they do. Are you okay with that?"

Emily swallowed. Then she slowly nodded. "Okay."

Mara sighed with relief. "I really didn't want to shoot you."

"Me neither." Jin admitted.

There was more thudding and growling from somewhere distant.

"Let's get going." Mark hefted his carbine. "Before we have more company."

* * *

At least they knew what they were up against now, but it was still frightening to not know when the next attack would occur, or where or even how.

They were definitely being hunted.

They encountered a few more lobotomites. Some of them were armed with guns, mostly pistols and SMGs.

They still had no idea what the vault was for, but it was clearly huge. There labs, mostly destroyed, along their path. Some of them looked like they were designed for dissection, others were just bizarre.

"I don't want to know what half of this stuff was for." Mara murmured. "And what are the lobotomites for?"

"Security I guess." Ghost said. "They must have gone mad though."

"How are they still alive?"

"They can live for a long time, apparently." Ghost explained. "Most of their vital organs are replaced with technology."

Jin frowned at Ghost. "Is there something you want to tell us?" He prompted. "How do you so much about these things?"

"I'm not a mad scientist." Ghost stated. "I'm old, I've seen a lot and learnt a lot. I've walked through the Divide and explored Zion Canyon, I know a lot about this world."

"If you say so." Jin shrugged.

They carried in silence, aside from the sound of their boots on the metal floor.

There more growling.

It was further away this time, but it sounded like there were a lot of lobotomites.

There was also a whirring sound. Then there was the rattling sound of a machinegun firing.

The growling stopped abruptly.

"That was a minigun." Ghost muttered. "Lobotomites don't use heavy weapons. I think there's something worse in here."

They finally reached the overseer's office. It was securely locked, the terminal outside had been smashed.

"Shit!" Mara hissed. "So much for that plan."

"Have a little faith." Jin prised the broken computer out of the wall. "I might be able to force the door open. Give me a moment." He began to fiddle with the wires using his tools.

There was more growling, closer this time.

"We might not have a moment." Emily whispered.

"Just keep them away." Jin didn't look away from his work. "I'll be as quick as I can."

The first lobotomite appeared on the right hand side. It was quickly gunned down by Mark, but these lobotomites travelled in packs.

The corridor was soon flashing with gunfire as the four of them kept the crazed creatures away from Jin.

They had to time their reloads and shots carefully, otherwise they would be overwhelmed.

There was worse to come though, Ghost had been right about a bigger threat.

Something came clomping around the corner. It was covered in bulky dull green armour with US army symbols painted on. There was a minigun attached to its right arm and heavy grasping claw on its left arm. They couldn't see much of the creature inside, apart from two mechanical eyes inside a skull of dead flesh.

"What the hell is that?" Mara yelled.

"Doesn't matter," Mark aimed his carbine at it. "Concentrate fire!"

Their bullets just pinged off the creature's armour as it stomped towards them. Emily's laser rifle was just burning the paint.

The creature raised its minigun.

Jin opened the door. "Get inside!"

The five of them practically threw themselves through the open door and the minigun opened fire, lighting up the corridor with tracers.

"How are we going to kill that thing?" Emily shouted over the noise.

"Bullets won't work." Ghost stated. "Use grenades."

Mara slung her shotgun across her back and held up two grenades, one in each hand.

Mark leant around the door and opened fire on the creature, trying to aim for its eyes.

Mara yanked the pins out with her teeth and hurled both grenades at the creature. They both took cover again as the grenades exploded.

Mark peeked around the door again and stared. The creature was still alive, it was hurt though. Its legs were damaged and it was limping.

"It's still alive!" Mara sounded like she was surprised or terrified.

"I'll have a go." Ghost hefted one of his frag mines. "I've got a crazy idea."

"Make it fast." Mark nodded.

"Emily, keep me covered." Ghost moved to the door.

Emily swapped her MFCs for overcharged cells. The shots from her rifle made the creature stagger.

Ghost stepped outside, his pistol in his right hand and the mine in his left.

"Get back inside!" He shouted before hurling the mine like a Frisbee. It was hardly aerodynamic, but he had thrown it with strength and it was spinning towards the creature's head.

Ghost took aim with his pistol and fired a single shot.

The mine exploded. The corridor shot and fire filled the air.

The smoke cleared and the creature dropped to its knees. Its head had been obliterated.

It pitched forwards and hit the ground with a crash. It didn't move again.

"When did you learn that trick?" Jin asked. He was amazed by what had happened.

"Just now." Ghost admitted. "I'm surprised that it worked." Ghost approached the metal monster warily and prodded it with his boot. "It's dead. Looks like a cyborg of some kind, maybe an advanced lobotomite."

"Look at those symbols." Emily pointed. "What are those for?"

"Army." Mark had seen them before, on an old tank. "They must have been made for the war."

"Can we take its minigun?" Mara suggested. "We could do with the firepower."

Ghost inspected the weapon. "No, it's grafted in place." He murmured. "Maybe we should check out the armoury, as we're stuck here for the time being."

Mark left them to it and walked back into the office. Emily was hacking into the computer.

He noticed a skeleton in the corner, with a pistol in its bony hand. It looked like the overseer had committed suicide.

"Anything?" Mark asked.

"I've got a map now." Emily didn't look up from the screen. "I've also got some codes, including ones for the armoury and prototype weapons labs." She continued to type as she spoke. "This vault was for scientists, specifically for experts on weapons and warfare. This vault was meant to produce new weapons, armour, cyborgs and vehicles before and after the nuclear war, so that America could be strong again." She frowned. "This has something to do with… the Enclave? What's the Enclave?"

"A faction in the wastelands." Mark explained. "They were very powerful at one point, but they were defeated at least twice and have gone into hiding."

Emily nodded, still typing. "Mark, I've got the self-destruct codes."

"We'll give them to the NCR." Mark assured her. "You're right; this place shouldn't be left standing."

"I'm glad we agree." She shut the computer down. "I'm done here, shall we move on?"

"Yeah." Mark nodded. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

_**Sorry about the delay, I've been busy. However, this story is almost finished. **_


	13. Into the underworld

The constant tapping of keys sounded louder in the narrow hallway. Mara was starting to become more paranoid about the lobotomites prowling around.

"Can you hurry up?" She asked.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Emily stated, still typing. "I'm almost there."

"You've been hacking for four minutes."

"Do you want to have a go?" Emily challenged. "This isn't easy."

"Settle down, both of you." Mark ordered. "We need the firepower, assuming anything in there still works."

A trip down the vault's armoury had been accepted as a wise move. The security terminal had been less than willing to accept the security codes, they changed weekly.

Once again, Emily had been forced to hack her way into the system. Mark was glad that she had followed them into the vault; they would have been stuck without her.

"There, got it." Emily finished hacking. The armoury door hissed and slid open.

It was a big room, full of weapons on shelves and racks. Unfortunately, many of them were damaged or degraded.

"At least this still works." Ghost had picked up an old assault rifle. It was bigger than Mark's carbine, but it was a bit more powerful. For Ghost, who didn't really like shotguns, it would a decent close range weapon.

"Ghost, learn a lesson from me," Jin hefted a large item and its ammo pack. "_This _is a weapon for the job." He spun the barrels of the minigun. "Anything in my way is mincemeat."

"Show off." Mara muttered. She selected a few grenades and ammunition for her shotgun. Mark picked up a light machinegun and checked the drum magazine. There were no spares, it was a temporary weapon.

Emily was examining everything inside the armoury, even the stuff that was broken. She kept picking up weapons and examining them with childlike fascination.

"Hurry up, Emily." Jin was still fawning over his minigun. "I'd like to test this baby."

"If you keep drooling over that thing it'll get rusty." Mara muttered.

Emily picked up a combat shotgun with a drum magazine and loaded it. "I'm ready."

"That turned me on." Jin grinned. Mara nudged him and gave him a withering look.

"Since we've got two shotguns," Mark said. "Mara, you watch the back, Emily can watch the front. Jin will take the lead with that mincer he's carrying."

Jin was grinning for ear to ear. "Makes coming to this hellhole worthwhile."

Emily glanced at him, her eyes saying the complete opposite.

Jin stepped out first, keeping the minigun spooled and ready to fire. Ghost and Mara kept an eye on their backs.

Emily was navigating, using the map on her pip-boy to guide them. The extra firepower was somewhat reassuring, but they were still outnumbered.

Mark noticed a few signs on the wall. One of them was of interest to them, it pointed to the reactor room.

"We're getting closer." He murmured. "Stay sharp."

They could feel something thrumming under their boots. It seemed strange that the reactor was still running, even though the vault was in disrepair.

The corridors were getting larger and cleaner. There was less rust, but bloodstains were still present.

"Mark," Emily pointed. "What's that?"

Mark squinted into the darkness. There was a large, unevenly shaped lump in the middle of the corridor.

Jin shone his light on it. Mark could see what it was now.

It was a pile of dead lobotomites. Some of them were decomposing; their rotten flesh was peeling away from their implants. Others were fresh.

"We didn't kill them." Jin stated. "So what the hell did?"

"Smell that?" Ghost sniffed. "They've been burnt, laser or plasma fire maybe."

"I hope you're not trying to say that there's something worse than lobotomites and zombie cyborgs in here." Mara said. "Maybe there are survivors in here."

"I doubt it."

"Let's just keep moving." Mark said. "We'll worry about whatever did this if we encounter it."

They stepped over the bodies. The sickly smell of cauterized flesh wafted off the bodies, making them feel sick.

There were burn marks and bullet holes along the corridor; it looked like a fight had occurred between the lobotomites and something that used energy weapons.

This section was deeper underground and had power, enough to keep a few lights flickering.

They also came across more bodies, more dead lobotomites and one dead cyborg. They also came across a wrecked Mr Gutsy robot.

"Looks like the cyborg minced it." Ghost stated. "But the robot must have shot him too."

"So we're up against robots?" Mark surmised.

"I'd like to think so." Jin said. "Tougher than those lobotomites, but not as scary."

"Robots don't leave footprints like that." Ghost pointed a bloodstain on the floor. He was right; the stain was shaped like a boot. "Somebody's been here. Maybe they're still inside."

"Whoever it was," Mara crouched down next to the stain. "They had big feet or maybe armoured boots."

The prospect of a survivor didn't fill them with hope. For all they knew, the survivor was probably hostile or crazy, and was toting some sort of energy weapon.

They moved on, turning the corner and entering another corridor.

"Blood trail." Ghost whispered. "Check that door."

Mark followed the blood trail to the metal door. He stood on the left side, Mara took the right. Jin stood in front of it with his minigun ready.

Mara hit the button. Jin braced himself.

The door opened. Nothing came out.

"I think we've found our friend with the big boots." Jin muttered.

Mark entered the room, aiming his carbine at the body slumped against the wall. The person, it was hard to tell whether it was male or female, was wearing heavy power armour from head to toe. There was a broken plasma rifle on the ground and a pistol in the body's hand, evidently this had been a last stand.

There was dried blood on the armour and holes where bullets or melee weapons had penetrated the armour.

"Power armour?" Mara breathed. "Is this guy from the Brotherhood of Steel?"

"No." Mark knelt down next to the body. "It's a different kind of armour." He checked the body and spotted a small emblem on the shoulder, along with a name-tag and blood group label.

"L Mercer, A positive." He read out. "We've seen this symbol on the Overseer's computer, this is an Enclave trooper."

"They must have sent soldiers to find this place." Emily guessed. "To recover any technology they could salvage."

"Can you fix his gun?" Mara pointed at the plasma rifle. "Plasma's good against most things."

"No." Emily shook her head. "It's wrecked." She crouched down next the dead soldier. "This might not be pretty." She warned. Emily grasped the helmet and pulled it off the trooper's head.

The sight underneath wasn't pretty at all, the man had agony written all over his face.

Emily removed something from the helmet and slotted it into her pip-boy.

She read the text on her screen. "The data's corrupted. They were here for the same thing we are, that power source. They were also sent to recover any weapons and technology they could find." She kept on reading. "A lot of this is corrupted, but they have a base in the Mojave, not sure where. There were five men in this squad, so there should be four more soldiers around here somewhere, plus two robots. One of them is scrap though."

"Were they shooting the lobotomites?" Jin asked.

"It doesn't say." Emily answered. "But they weren't expecting resistance."

"Is there anything there that might help us?" Mark asked.

"I'm not sure, hold on." She read through the rest. "There's a back entrance and codes for the main door."

"It might be better to use the backdoor rather than go all the way back up." Ghost said. "Who knows what's waiting for us on the way back."

"We've got to find it first." Mark shrugged. "Come on, I want to leave this place, the sooner the better."

"I think we all agree with that."

* * *

They found another dead trooper in the next corridor, with some dead lobotomites around him. This soldier had lost his left leg and arm. His weapon, a broken Gatling laser, was lying next to him.

"That's two." Ghost stated. "I suppose we ought to be grateful to them, they probably cleared the way for us, poor bastards."

"Even though they hate almost everybody?" Mara frowned.

Ghost shrugged. "Nobody wants to die in a place like this."

"Movement!" Emily warned, lifting her weapon. All of their guns pointed in the same direction.

The Enclave soldiers had cleared the way forwards, but there were still lobotomites waiting behind them.

Jin spun the barrels of the minigun. The flash and the noise filled the corridor. Bullet casings clattered to the ground.

Mark decided that there wasn't much point in joining in. Jin had the situation riddled.

"I think they're dead, Jin!" Mara yelled over the racket.

Jin stopped firing. "I've got to get me one of these!"

"Keep it then." Mara rolled her eyes. "We'll just let you waste a thousand rounds in every fight."

"Settle down, you two." Mark ordered. "Ghost, keep an eye out for more of them."

"More in front!" Emily aimed and fired her shotgun. Mark decided to help, crouching down and opening fire with his machinegun.

Emily fired two more shots before her shotgun clacked uselessly. Time had not been kind to the weapon, it had jammed. Emily swore, she had picked up some new words, and hurled the shotgun at the lobotomites before grabbing her laser rifle.

"Can you get out of the way?" Jin shouted. "I can't aim!"

Ghost ignored him and opened fire with his assault rifle. Mark was firing in bursts, despite the large capacity of the machinegun; he didn't want to run out of ammunition in a single fight. It wasn't just embarrassing, it was unnecessary.

The last lobotomite hit the ground, minus its legs.

"You know, guns work better when you don't jam them." Jin said unhelpfully.

"I didn't do it on purpose." Emily scowled.

"Ammo check." Mark changed the subject. "I've got about thirty rounds left."

"Lots." Jin smirked.

"Whatever," Mara shrugged. "We're good to go."

Once again, Mark let Jin take the lead. He didn't want to get torn apart by the minigun.

They were one extra weapon down though, since Emily's shotgun had jammed. Ghost wasn't taking too well to the assault rifle either; he was comfortable with distance and a scope.

Thirty rounds wasn't much for a light machinegun either, considering that such weapons ate ammunition in seconds. He'd have to fire in bursts.

Mark felt like they were being corralled into a trap. They were in the only corridor to the reactor and it was still taking them further down.

How far down did it go? Surely it couldn't go any further?

The crushing feeling wasn't leaving; it was actually becoming worse with every staircase.

Only Emily seemed to be immune to the feeling, only because she had lived in a vault. But even she dreaded whatever lay ahead.

Mark could now hear something, a low thrum and an odd sound. It sounded almost like distant thunder, but there was weather down here, unless it was some kind of trick.

"Third one." Jin was pointing his minigun at another dead Enclave soldier. He was definitely dead, he had been decapitated. His weapon, still functional this time, was on the floor.

Emily picked it up and inspected it. "Multiplas rifle." She stated. "Still charged too."

"Can you use it?" Mark asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'd prefer to check it before firing though. Plasma weapons are less stable than lasers."

"Might not get the chance." Mara said. "If it blows up you can shoot me later."

"Assuming you're still alive to." Jin added quietly and unhelpfully.

"Jin, don't say things like that." Mark sighed. "We've got enough to worry about."

Emily quickly checked the rifle. She couldn't determine much without more time, but it seemed to be safe to fire.

Mark didn't know as much about energy weapons as she did, but he knew that multiplas rifles were made for close quarters combat. To him such weapons were odd; he preferred to stick with ballistics.

The sound, the odd thunder and lightning, was getting louder. It was as if they were walking into a storm.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Emily whispered.

"So have I." Ghost pointed at the fourth dead Enclave trooper. This one was slumped against the door, clutching a battered laser rifle. The front had been torn off and there were numerous wounds across his body.

"These aren't claw wounds." Emily murmured. "They look like… burns."

"Maybe the Enclave soldiers fell out." Mara suggested.

"I don't think so." Ghost was good at reading signs. "It looks like he exited the room ahead, saw something and closed the door before opening fire. Whatever he was fighting survived and shot him several times with an energy weapon."

"We haven't seen any lobotomites carrying energy weapons." Jin stated. "Maybe it was a robot."

Nobody argued, perhaps they didn't want to think about something worse toying with energy weapons.

Mara and Ghost took the soldier's arms and moved him away from the door.

There was a sign above the door: Authorised personnel only. Risk of radiation poisoning."

Mark reached out for the door panel.

"Warning," The artificial voice made them all jump. "Lethal levels of radiation are present."

Emily took over, activating the terminal next to the door. She wasn't hacking it, she was typing in queries.

_How do we get past the radiation?_

"A radiation suit can be found in any laboratory." The computer replied. "The nearest laboratory is V3-biochemical research."

_How can we clear the next section?_

The venting control room will allow researchers to manually vent the radiation into storage. Alternatively, automatic venting can be commenced from this terminal."

_Begin automatic venting._

"Warning: automatic venting procedures disabled. Override in effect."

_Disable override_.

"You are not authorised." The computer stated, as if mocking Emily. "The override was initiated using the Overseer's personal pass card, this override cannot be disabled."

"The Overseer is dead," Mara frowned. "How did he activate the override?"

"Maybe somebody else took his card." Ghost guessed. "Now this makes sense. The Enclave squad was down to two men, one of them volunteered to go ahead and secure the next section. One of them stayed here to guard the exit, but he was killed by something."

"And the other one?" Emily asked.

"Power armour can give you _some _protection from radiation." Ghost shrugged. "But I don't think he made it. Our best bet is to find one of these radiation suits in the lab. Or you could send me in, radiation won't hurt me."

"I'll open the airlock then." Emily typed in the command.

"Enter suit ID number and scan." The computer requested.

"Looks like we need the suit anyway." Mara stated. "Maybe we can all go through."

"Unlike our Enclave friends, we'd better stick together." Mark said. "Jin, lead the way. Emily, navigation is up to you." He noticed her slightly fearful look. "You've done brilliantly so far, you can do this."

Emily nodded and checked her pip-boy. "Okay, I know where we need to go."

* * *

Lab V3 was hidden behind a false wall, but Emily knew where it was now. Since she had downloaded the Overseer's data she had some access to the systems, but not all of them.

The lab itself was pretty grim. It was filled with cylinders full of bubbling liquids. They varied in colour and form, from purple goo and grey sludge, to a red crystalline substance and bubbling green liquids. The cylinders were connected to reinforced storage tanks. The cylinders themselves were mounted alongside computers and various pieces of apparatus.

"Fingers off triggers." Mark instructed. "We don't want to break anything."

Emily was frowning at the contraptions, as if they were insulting her.

"Problem?" Ghost asked.

"Nothing." Emily murmured. "They just… remind me of… home." She activated the computer next to the green cylinder. "FEV strain 42." She read out. "That sounds familiar."

"Forced Evolutionary Virus." Mara grimaced. "Nasty stuff, it turns people into Super Mutants."

"Okay, now I agree with Emily." Jin muttered. "This place needs to burn."

Mark opened the lockers carefully, just in case they were booby-trapped. He noticed some discarded power armour next to one of the empty lockers. The fifth Enclave trooper had obviously taken a radiation suit, he hadn't been able to wear his armour underneath and had left it behind. It was useless to Mark and his allies though, none of them were trained to use power armour.

The lockers were all, so far, empty. If there were no radiation suits left, they were stuck.

He opened the last locker.

"Found one." He called. "But it's the only one."

"Fine, I'll wear it." Ghost sighed. "Give it to me."

Mark frowned and held it up, letting the legs hang towards the floor. The material was blue and it had several additions, including a rad-away injector and a lead weave. It was obviously meant for work in highly radioactive areas.

"Oh shit." Ghost groaned. "Don't tell me, we're screwed because we're all too big for it."

He had a point. The suit was small, too small for them. According to the personnel badge in the locker, the woman who had used the suit was smaller than Mara, who was just a little shorter than Mark.

"I can wear it."

They all looked at Emily. Mark hadn't wanted to say it, mostly because he didn't like the thought of Emily walking into a dangerously radioactive area alone. The facts were there though; she was the smallest member of the group, shorter than Mark. She wasn't quite as small as the suit's former owner, but she would be able to wear it.

Mark was about to protest, but Mara cut him off. "What choice do we have, Mark?" She asked rhetorically. "Besides, Emily has a knack with computers and the codes. If anyone can vent the radiation, she can."

"I'm not worried about that." Mark admitted. "I'm worried about her walking through a radioactive area alone. There could be more lobotomites in there for all we know."

"They don't handle radiation any better than you lot do." Ghost stated. "I doubt that anything's alive in there."

"Mark, we have no choice." Emily agreed with Mara. "I'll be fine."

Mark considered arguing, but he knew that he wouldn't win. It was a tough choice.

He could send Emily into the radioactive area, filled with monsters for all he knew, alone. Or he could lead them all back to the boat and call the mission a failure.

What choice did they have?

He sighed. "Okay, Emily." He handed her the suit. "But I don't want you to die in there, no wild sacrifices or anything like that."

"I'll try." She examined the suit. "I promise." She looked at them all with a puzzled expression. "Can you look away please?" She requested, blushing slightly. "I have to change."

"Use the backroom." Mark pointed at the door. "Mara can help you with the suit."

Emily and Mara entered the backroom and sealed the door, leaving the three men alone.

Jin raised his eyebrows. "I have a good imagination." He said. "I'd wager that she looks good without her clothes on."

"Shut up, Jin." Mark sighed.

"What?" Jin shrugged. "I'm sure you agree with me, you're the one who fancies her."

"Settle down," Ghost grunted. "Argue over women once we're out of this death trap."

Mark folded his arms but said nothing. So even Jin knew that he was interested in Emily, he couldn't hide anything from this bunch.

At least Jin only knew about his crush. There were other things Mark wanted to keep secret, things that would probably scare Emily away. That was something he really didn't want.

The last thing he wanted, which was why he was reluctant to let this plan proceed, was Emily's death on his conscience. He would never be able to live with that. Never.

* * *

_**Maybe I should have put this into the romance category, but I'm not much good with love and relationships. **_

_**This story will be longer than intended, I've realised that there's more that I can do with this. Reviews, as usual, would be appreciated. **_


	14. Haunted and hunted

Dunn knocked twice before entering Halley's office. He never liked to walk into a commanding officer's room, even if he was invited, he felt like he was intruding.

Halley was, as usual, reading reports. He signed something and put the documents away before speaking.

"What have you found, Sergeant Dunn?"

"Some background information on Kelson's companions." Dunn put some files down on the desk. "Some of it was easy to find, some of it was difficult, sir."

"We know Kelson well enough." Halley slid the file aside and picked up the file marked M Lanning. He opened it and examined the contents.

There were three photographs. The first one showed Mara, a teenager at the time, sitting with a young man who resembled her in a dusty camp.

According to the file, the man was her older brother. Halley recognised the shotgun he was carrying, Mara carried it now.

The third photo showed the two of them in the wasteland. It looked like the brother was teaching her to fire a gun.

The last one was the most recent; it showed Mara as she appeared now, wearing combat armour and carrying her brother's shotgun.

Dunn decided to add his own knowledge. "She was raised in a small tribal camp, which is long gone now." He said. "Her brother was killed by Nightkin. He was trying to save her from them. Instead, she ended up killing the Nightkin herself when she got her hands on the shotgun." He paused. "She joined the Crimson Caravans, to support her surviving family. But they were wiped out by Fiends. Mara lost her job after the caravan she was guarding was destroyed."

"How did she meet Kelson?" Halley asked.

"According to witnesses, they met in Primm." Dunn answered. "She volunteered to follow him."

Halley picked up the next file, marked J Irving. There were a few more photos this time, Jin had lived in Freeside. According to the information, he had repaired stuff for the locals.

"Irving helped his father to run a repair shop; he had a talent for fixing guns." Dunn explained. "Only some of those customers were Freeside gang members, who simply turned their repaired weapons in Jin's father and took everything, including Jin's mother. Jin, armed with only a power fist, hunted them down and killed them. He was too late for his mother though." Dunn paused, trying to read Halley's expression. But there was nothing to see, Halley was inscrutable. Emotions in his line of work could be destructive. "Jin just wandered around, getting into trouble, usually with women. He met Kelson on the road and decided to accompany him, probably for adventure and caps."

Halley picked up the next file, marked Ghost (name unknown). There was only one photo, a picture of the ghoul.

"We couldn't find out much about the ghoul." Dunn said. "All we know is that he's wandered across California and the Mojave doing odd jobs. He met Mark at the 188 and they became drinking buddies. When Mark left the NCR, Ghost went with him."

Halley picked up the last file, marked E Nicks. There were two photos inside; one was a blackened circular door with the numbers 117 just visible. The second was Emily.

"We know very little about Nicks too." Dunn said. "We know that she came from vault 117, which was hard to find. It's on the far edge of the western Mojave. There was evidence of a huge explosion, somebody evidently set off the self-destruct system." He paused. "According to the Rangers, only two people left the vault. They found a corpse outside, picked clean by animals. They managed to get into the vault, not that there's much left."

"You were there, Dunn." Halley stated. "Tell me what you saw."

Dunn was silent for a moment. "To be honest, sir, it was like hell in there." He answered slowly. "Not just because of the explosion though. We found blood on the walls, some of it was used for writing. Stuff like _I'm going to find you._ It was creepy, sir."

Halley was thinking, processing the information quietly. He put down the last file.

"Perhaps their chances are slimmer than I expected." He murmured. "They all seem to be… damaged in some way."

"Damaged, sir?"

"You've told me about them. Mara lost her brother to Nightkin and she gunned them down in response. She harbours grudges. Jin saw his parents murdered. Now he lives for thrills. We already know about Kelson, why he left the NCR. And the girl, Emily," Halley glanced at the file. "She destroyed her own home for some reason. These are very unstable people, Dunn. Tell Colby to be extremely careful."

* * *

Emily was obviously uncomfortable in the suit; she was shifting constantly and making the material rustle. Mara was carrying her equipment, including the multiplas rifle; Emily didn't want to carry any unnecessary weight into the next section.

That was what she said anyway, what she really meant was that she didn't want to leave them without medical supplies and an extra gun if she died. She was still carrying her laser rifle and pistol.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked.

"Nervous." Emily left it at that, she was more than nervous. "I'm ready."

Emily approached the computer and entered her suit's number and scanned it.

"Suit number and scan accepted." The computer stated. "Please enter the airlock."

Emily entered the airlock, Ghost tried to go in with her.

"Unauthorised personnel must leave the airlock." The computer could obviously detect Ghost. "The airlock will not open until you leave."

Ghost sighed and stepped out again. "Sorry, Emily, you're on your own."

Emily reached out for the button.

"Emily," Mark called before she touched it. "Good luck."

Emily managed a nervous smile. "Thanks." She pushed the button.

"Beginning procedure." The door sealed. Mark could see Emily on the computer screen; it was displaying the image from a camera. "Door one sealed. Opening door two."

The second door opened. Emily was greeted to the next section by a thick green fog, radioactive gas or steam of some kind, rolling into the airlock.

It was difficult to see. The Geiger counters in the suit and on her pip-boy were going mad. She turned down the volume.

She realised that even with the suit, the radiation was still going to harm her if she took too long to vent it.

There were five doses of rad-away stored in the suit. She could feel the device that would feed it into her body, much like an IV drip, in her arm.

She would have to be sparing. Both the suit and her pip-boy would measure how much radiation she had absorbed. Even now, the needle was beginning to edge off zero.

She took a shaky breath and began to walk forwards. She didn't want to rush, despite the radiation. Mark's worries about creatures waiting in the radiation had made her paranoid and she could barely see anything. If she fell and damaged the suit she would die horribly.

By now, Mark could no longer see her through the thick green gas. There was no way to communicate with her either.

Emily glanced at the meter. Two rads.

She grimaced and quickened her pace. She had to do this, the sooner the better.

* * *

Mark had resigned himself to waiting. There were no cameras to use and even if they were working, there was nothing to see.

Ghost had picked up the dead soldier's broken laser rifle and was examining it. It was clearly broken, but he seemed to be interested in the weapon.

Mara was pacing, she hated being idle. Jin was examining the helmet they had found in the biochemical lab.

Ghost put the laser rifle down. "Jin, can I take a look at that?"

"Sure." Jin tossed him the Enclave helmet.

Ghost caught it. He examined the yellow eyes, as if he was trying to read them. He turned the helmet around and put it on his head.

"They're a bit scary," Jin shrugged. "The Enclave knows how to intimidate."

"Yeah," Ghost murmured, his voice slightly muffled by the helmet. "They do."

"Is something wrong, Ghost?" Mark noticed the ghoul's tone of voice.

Ghost didn't respond at first. "Sanford, Del. 1334535. Theta squad. Mojave Enclave division."

"Is that who owned the helmet?" Jin inquired.

"No." Ghost stated. "This isn't mine."

Mark frowned at him. "Isn't yours?"

They all stared at him. People had to be trained to wear power armour, so how could Ghost…

"You're an Enclave soldier?" Mara gasped.

"Was." Ghost corrected her. "I was stationed on the President's oil rig at first, reassigned to the Mojave after it blew up. Then I was left to die in a mine."

"That's when you became a ghoul." Mark guessed.

"I guess so." Ghost removed the helmet. "Ironic, isn't it? The Enclave hates ghouls."

"So…" Mark was trying to make sense of what he had heard. "Do you want us to call you Del?"

"That's not me, not anymore." Ghost shook his head. "It's been many years since I last held a laser rifle, wore power armour and fought for America. As far as we're concerned, I'm Ghost the ghoul."

The others were silent, taking in what he had said. Despite what he had told them, they couldn't argue with that last statement.

He was just Ghost. The Enclave soldier Del Sanford had died in that mine, Ghost had walked out later, picked up a sniper rifle and wandered the lands until he had met Mark at the 188.

"You needn't have remembered then." Mark shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not keen on the Enclave."

"Neither am I." Ghost agreed. He glanced at the door. "I hope Emily's okay."

* * *

Emily didn't feel okay. She was starting to feel giddy.

The meter had moved up. With little choice, Emily used the first dose of rad-away.

The meter went down. She began to feel a little better, less tired and less pained.

She'd encountered a few skeletons. It looked like some unfortunate people had been trapped inside the corridor when the radiation venting had begun.

What if there were ghouls down here?

She knew the difference between a feral and a non-feral, Ghost had made that clear, but any ghouls down here would have surely gone mad.

There were marks on the walls that resembled claw marks. It looked like the helpless people had tried to claw their way out.

It was a horrible way to die. If Emily wasn't careful, she'd share their fate.

Or worse, become a feral ghoul. She'd never seen one before, but Ghost had told her about them.

He'd walked through a group of them, they had ignored him because he was a ghoul too, but he didn't want to join any ferals or become one.

Well, if anything was down in the section with her she had her laser rifle.

But she had no idea where the venting station was, or even how close to it she was. She could barely see. Emily had tried to use her pip-boy's light, but that just illuminated the gas.

If this power source emitted no radiation, then what did? Maybe it was better not to know.

The meter was slowly creeping up again, it had reached three rads.

Emily felt something against her foot.

She looked down and froze.

The Enclave soldier's body was fresh. But he hadn't died from radiation poisoning.

His suit had been ripped open and the flesh underneath torn and savaged. There was a plasma pistol in his limp hand, which had been torn away from his arm.

Emily fought against the vomit rising in her throat. It wasn't just the sight, it was the memories it made her remember.

Skin torn by teeth and nails. Bodies dismembered and hung, as if they were a butcher's products.

Blood all over the walls.

The face.

The burn.

The bodies.

The roaring flame.

_I'm coming for you._

Emily forced the thoughts out of her head.

"I'm okay." Her voice sounded small and fearful, but slightly reassuring. "I'm okay. I can do this."

"Me-e-e-e-a-at…" The word was drawn out into hissing syllables.

But it told Emily something. It told her that she wasn't alone.

She paused, turning slowly and checking both ends of the corridor. But she couldn't see anything.

"Fl-e-e-e-e-sh…" Another drawn out word. There was something with her and it had made its intentions clear.

Food. It wanted to eat.

It wanted to eat her.

The Geiger counter was still clicking. Emily couldn't linger any longer. If the creature didn't get her, the radiation would.

Emily moved forwards, walking quickly, laser rifle up and ready to fire. It was fully charged.

There were more skeletons in the green mist, more victims of either the radiation or the thing pursuing her. Or was it waiting for her?

_Ignore it. Just keep going._ Emily told herself. _Vent the radiation, deal with the monster later._

It made sense. Right now she could barely see much further than her suit's visor. She could spend hours trying to find the creature, only to die from radiation poisoning.

Determination seized her, gave her strength. She would succeed; she wasn't going to die down here.

She'd survived worse before; this place would not become her grave.

Small chances, but it was enough to keep her going.

Fifteen rads. She was starting to feel woozy again.

"Bl-o-o-o-od…" Another growl. Another chill down her spine.

She could make out a sign. Radiation venting.

Dizzy now. Emily couldn't take much more; she took the second dose of rad-away.

She wondered if the radiation would leave her with permanent damage. Maybe it would make her sterile or result in a tumour.

It was too late to worry about it now. She had to keep going.

Somehow, she managed to walk all the way down the corridor. She used her third dose of rad-away during the walk. She only had two left.

The radiation venting control room was in a room on the left, in front of the airlock to the next section. There was a window on the side.

Emily could see a couple of skeletons inside. There was also some equipment, including a welder and some tools. One of the skeletons was still wearing a blue radiation suit, it had been torn open.

Emily opened the door, checked the corridor and stepped inside. She locked the door from the inside before walking into the control room.

Nothing attacked her. She was safe for the time being.

Emily put her rifle on the desk and activated the computer. The Overseer's pass-card was still inside the slot, one the technicians must have taken it.

That made things easier. She didn't have to go searching for it.

She was starting to feel tried and painful again. She took the fourth dose of rad-away.

Emily typed in her commands.

"Radiation venting commencing." The computer announced. "Please wait until clearing is complete."

Emily looked up from the screen.

She froze. She could feel the scream stuck in her throat as she stared in horror.

"Found you…"

* * *

"Radiation venting commencing." The voice announced. "Please wait until clearing is complete."

"She made it." Mark smiled. "I knew she would."

"We've still got to wait for the clearing to finish." Mara stated. "Otherwise we'll start to glow."

"Yeah, that makes sneaking a lot harder." Ghost agreed. He paused. "Wait… what was that?"

Mark could hear it now. Something whirring and clunking.

"Crap," he murmured. "Grab your guns."

Jin lifted his minigun. "At least we have something to keep us busy."

Whatever had killed the Enclave soldier using energy weapons was soon revealed to them.

It looked like a lobotomite, only its legs were mechanical and bent at the knee. It had a mechanical right arm, which was equipped with some sort of laser weapon. The other arm ended with some sort of blade.

It aimed its weapon at Mark.

Jin pulled the minigun's trigger.

Nothing happened.

"What the hell?" Jin pulled the trigger again.

Mark fired the light machinegun. The creature fired, but missed as the last bullets in the machinegun shredded it.

The machinegun clicked. It was empty. The creature was dead though.

"So much for using a thousand rounds in every gunfight." Mara said. "And you were telling Emily not to jam weapons."

Jin scowled and dropped the minigun and its ammo pack. Punning and the dead creature aside, they had lost two more guns.

And the clearing was still in progress. Emily would not get any help.

* * *

Emily was staring at something horrible.

A skeletal face, the flesh peeling away. The eyes were almost white, as if they were dead.

The creature was thin, as if starved, and vaguely female through the tatters of a vault suit.

It was glowing too, almost blinding her.

A ghoul, but not a friendly one like Ghost. She was staring at a Glowing One.

Emily grabbed her laser rifle just as the creature screeched and pounded on the glass.

She backed away into the corner. The ghoul gave up with the glass and seemed to vanish.

Where was it?

The ceiling! That was why she hadn't spotted it. The damn thing was crawling along the ceiling!

Could it get inside the room? She'd locked herself in and she doubted that ghoul knew how to open doors.

But how had the radiation entered the room? The door had been closed when she had arrived.

How had the skeleton in the suit been attacked?

She saw the answer, but it was too late.

The vent cover was gone. The ghoul shot out of the vent and almost landed on her.

It was frenzied, clawing at her and screaming.

Emily fired her laser rifle, not bothering to aim. She could hardly miss at this range.

She pulled the trigger rapidly, sending several beams of red fire into the ghoul.

But it was just shrugging it off. In fact, the burns were disappearing.

The radiation was healing it.

It charged into her, knocking her onto the ground. Her laser rifle skittered across the floor.

Emily saw its fingers, thin and skeletal enough to be claws, coming down.

She grabbed the arms and struggled to keep them away from her face. If it breached her suit, she would either be eaten or irradiated.

The ghoul itself was radioactive. The meter was shooting up.

She was feeling dizzy, tired and aching almost immediately. The suit had an emergency system; it kicked in and used the last dose of rad-away.

Emily kept the hands away and tried to reach for a weapon. She was keeping the ghoul away with her feet and other hand.

But it was relentless. Its claws were slicing and cutting towards her.

Her hand touched something. A wrench.

She swung it round, but the ghoul saw it and sent it flying from her hand.

Her hand found something else. The welder.

Was it fuelled? Would it even work?

Only one way to find out.

Emily swung it round and pressed the button. A bright flash of flame blinded her.

She didn't see the torch slam into the ghoul's head and penetrate its rotting flesh and skull.

The creature screamed as the fire blazed into its head. Fire erupted from its mouth and nose.

It was a brief scream. The ghoul's death was mercifully quick.

Emily kicked the body away. She was still on the ground, half blinded and shaking.

"Clearing complete." The computer announced. "Have a nice day."

Small chance of that.

* * *

The air was clear when the others walked down to the control room. Mark was hurrying, despite the threat of lingering radiation.

He wanted to find Emily; he wanted to see if she was still alive.

They found the locked door. Mark pounded on it. "Emily, are you in there?"

The door opened to reveal a shaken Emily on the other side. She staggered and Mark caught her in his arms.

"Get her some rad-away." He ordered.

Mara injected some into Emily's arm. She was still shaking, but she wouldn't die from radiation exposure now.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked her.

Emily managed to nod.

"This thing isn't." Jin had walked into the control room and had found the ghoul with the welder stuck in its head. "What a way to go."

"Don't get too close." Ghost warned. "It's a Glowing One, it's still radioactive."

"We've learnt some startling things today." Jin said. "That you knew an Enclave soldier, that there are creepy things in this vault and that Emily kicks ass."

"You'd be surprised at what can people can achieve when they're in danger." Ghost told him. "Some people give in, some fight back. Luckily for us, Emily chose to fight."

Ghost dragged the corpse away, being immune to radiation had many benefits.

Emily needed to change back into her vault suit. Jin was frustrated when Mara closed the shutters on the window.

"All work and no fun." He muttered.

Ghost and Mark ignored him.

"Mark, it's been a long day for her." Ghost stated. "There's something you can do for her."

"What?" Mark asked.

"Just tell her how you feel." Ghost said. "I know what I said in the Wrangler, but it might be better if she knew."

Mark nodded. "Once we're out of here, I'll tell her." He promised. "We've got to survive the next horror this place at us first."

Emily and Mara emerged from the room. Emily was wearing her vault suit again and looking much better.

"I'm ready." She announced. "The reactor is just up ahead."

Mark nodded. "Good work, by the way." He smiled at her. "Is everybody ready?"

"Read and willing, Boss." Ghost nodded.

"Same here." Mara said.

"Good to go." Jin agreed.

"Then let's go." Mark hefted his carbine. "We'll grab this power source and blow this place to oblivion."


	15. Parting gifts

_**This is the final section of vault 225. I hope you enjoy it.**_

* * *

Mark braced himself for a flurry of claws or a hail of bullets. Emily pressed the button.

The heavy metal doors unsealed with a hiss and whirred open.

Mark and Emily moved in first. The sight that greeted them was simply enormous.

Whatever they had imagined the power source would look like, it had been nothing like this.

From the floor to the ceiling was a long transparent tube. Inside was a whirling, crashing column of what looked like lightning.

This was no Tesla coil though; Mark even doubted that humans had made it. He'd never really believed the tales about aliens, but this was odd enough to make him start doubting.

"And how are we going to carry that?" Mara stared at the device. "It's massive!"

"I don't think that's the power source itself." Emily stated. She walked up to the foot of the device and activated the mainframe attached. "This is what they called the channel. The actual source is much smaller."

"Can you get it?" Mark asked.

"Maybe," Emily typed in a few commands. "The vault will lose all power though, that means that the security systems will stop working. So will all the doors."

"We're not getting out through the front then." Mark guessed. "Ghost, take Jin and see if you can find the backdoor. Open it up and keep it open."

"Got it, Boss." Ghost nodded. "Jin, let's go."

The two of them moved to the far end of the chamber and made their way through the next few corridors.

Emily continued to type on the computer, her fingers dancing over the keys.

"You're good at this hacking stuff." Mark stated.

"It's my speciality, along with energy weapons; I've always had a way with computers." Emily explained. "It's saved my life on more than one occasion." She stopped suddenly. "Mark, look at this."

Mark peered at the screen. Emily had accessed a camera outside the vault door.

"That's Briggs." Marks pointed at the figure hammering on the door. "What's he…"

The sound on the camera was a little tinny, but Mark knew that a gun had been fired. A big one too.

Briggs was suddenly disintegrating. He had been hit by an explosive round.

He saw men approaching the door. He recognised their armour.

"Caesar's Legion." He breathed. "They've found us."

"Crap!" Mara swore. "Now we're screwed."

"Hold on." Emily typed something. "This might help."

There was more gunfire, only it wasn't coming from the Legion. Emily had activated the turrets; they were shooting the soldiers outside.

"That won't hold them for long." Emily was still typing. "I'm locking the door behind us and opening the rest. If there are any lobotomites waiting, uninvited guests have just arrived. I've also activated all of the security systems, including the turrets and robots."

"You're impressive when you're devious." Mark chuckled.

"Thanks." Emily smiled. "I'm not sure how much time we've got, but at least we have some now."

Ghost and Jin returned. Ghost discarded his now empty assault rifle as he entered the chamber.

"The way's clear." He announced. "The back door is stuck open now."

"Hey, you look worried." Jin said. "What gives?"

"The Legion's here." Mara explained. "They've killed Briggs."

"Shit!" Ghost rasped. "That's all we need."

"We'll leave them with a parting gift." Emily said. "Once we have the power source, I'll set the self-destruct from this mainframe. We'll have to run, but we'll kill two bloatflies with one bullet, so to speak."

"Works for me." Mark agreed. "Start working on that power source. If anybody tries to get in, we'll deal with them. Set up a perimeter."

Emily finished her typing. "It's started." She said. "All we need to do now is wait."

"I'm really glad you came with us." Mark told her. "We'd still be stuck at the front door without you."

Emily glanced at him, wondering if he was joking. "That's sweet of you, Mark." She smiled nervously. "Thank you."

"Warning: Intruder alert." A synthesised voice warned. "Intruder alert. Security systems activated. All security personnel are to report to designated areas."

"To bad security isn't around anymore." Jin muttered.

There was a familiar clanking, whirring sound.

"I think that _is _security." Ghost corrected him. "Incoming cyborgs!"

He was right. Several concealed doors had opened, releasing the dormant cyborgs. Some of them were like the one Mark had killed. Others had plasma casters attached to their right arms and a grenade launcher attached to their left arms.

"What are these things?" Emily hadn't seen them before.

"Some sort of cyborg," Jin explained. "And they're not friendly."

"Aim for the joins between the arms and legs," Ghost advised. "They've got less armour there." As if he was demonstrating, he shot one of the cyborgs in the right arm. It took three shots, but the arm was blown off.

"We've got little cover!" Mara shouted over the noise of her shotgun.

"Just keep moving!" Mark shouted back. "We need to work together!"

One of the big cyborgs with a minigun had appeared too. It was stamping forwards and firing with vigour.

Mark was right, they needed to work together.

"Emily, with me!" Ghost waved her over. "We'll distract it. Mara, you kill it."

Ghost and Emily caught the cyborg's attention by firing their weapons at it. Mara ran behind it and jumped onto its back.

Before it could shake her off, she had lodged two frag grenades into the armour between its neck and its head.

She leapt off and ran as the grenades exploded.

The cyborg fell forwards, missing most of its back and head.

Jin alternated between shooting the cyborgs with his SMG and punching any that came too close. Mark concentrated on suppressing them with his carbine, Mara kept them off his back. Emily and Ghost picked off the rest of the cyborgs with precision shots.

The lights in the chamber began to flicker. The storm inside the tube began to dim.

Eventually it went out altogether, leaving them in semidarkness.

The computer couldn't even announce that the process was finished until backup power came online.

"Retrieval complete." It stated. "Experiment completed. Vault-Tec congratulates you for helping the US military."

Emily removed the power source, a small cylinder filled with complicated circuitry and lightning flashes.

"Time to end this." She gritted her teeth. "When I set off the self-destruct, we need to run."

"How fast?" Jin asked.

"Like we're being chased by Deathclaws." Emily answered. "We've got… five minutes."

"Set it off." Mark told her. "Get ready, we are leaving!"

Emily pressed the button. An alarm began to blare.

"Self-destruct activated." The voice announced ominously. "All personnel are to proceed to the nearest exit. Evacuate immediately."

"That's our cue," Ghost shot another cyborg. "Forget these things, run for it!"

They didn't need telling twice. Ignoring the cyborgs, they sprinted to the exit.

The vault was going crazy. Something was exploding, the place was shaking and they could hear the distant booming sound of the explosions.

"Don't look back!" Mark warned. "Don't stop, just keep running!"

"Four minutes to final detonation." The computer stated. "Evacuate immediately. Vault-Tec assumes no responsibility for injuries suffered during the evacuation. Have a pleasant day."

"I wish we could shut that damn thing up!" Jin spat as he ran.

They hurtled up the stairs. Everything was falling apart, systems were malfunctioning and the alarms were still blaring.

"Three minutes to final detonation." The computer reminded them unhelpfully. "Evacuate."

"I see light!" Jin yelled. He was right; they could see the door ahead, down a long corridor.

At that moment, part of the corridor collapsed right in front of them, blocking their way.

"Shit!" Mara cursed. "Not now!"

"Through here," Ghost ducked under a half open door. "Follow me!"

Ghost led them through the crumbling room and back into the corridor. The delay had cost them vital seconds.

"Two minutes to final detonation." The computer stated. "All personnel in the lower levels are advised to remain calm, there is no escape now. Vault-Tec thanks you for all your hard work."

"I hate Vault-Tec now!" Jin grimaced.

"Less talking, more running." Mara shoved him forwards. Jin took her advice and sped up.

They were closing in on the light. But as they ran, something dark began to move down.

"The door's sealing!" Ghost yelled.

Emily sprinted ahead. For a moment Mark thought that she was desperate to escape and was leaving them behind.

But Emily was trying to save them. She slid under the closing door and propped her multiplas rifle under it, holding it open for a few seconds longer.

Ghost and Mara crawled under the door. Ghost grabbed a metal box and jammed it under the door too.

Jin crawled under, turned around and pulled Mark through. Mark's feet had barely left the threshold when the door squashed the metal box and the multiplas rifle.

"Keep running!" Mark barked as he got to his feet.

"Final detonation in one minute." They heard the muffled voice of the computer announce as they ran into blinding sunlight. "Goodbye."

They threw themselves behind a large rock and braced themselves for the explosion.

There was a low rumble, like a small earthquake and the ground shook slightly.

"That wasn't so bad." Jin muttered.

The ground where vault 225 was suddenly erupted upwards in roaring flame, raining fire and wreckage, making the ground rumble violently.

Then it collapsed in on itself, leaving a large pit full of wreckage and earth.

"Wow," Mara removed her hands from her ears. "That was… final."

* * *

Severus watched the fiery end of vault 225 in silence. Marcus was next to him, still panting. Marcus and some of the soldiers had only just escaped the vault too. The rest had been incinerated or buried.

"They must be dead, Praetorian." Marcus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"No." Severus stated. "They destroyed the vault deliberately, in an attempt to kill us perhaps." He shouldered his heavy rifle. "We will continue to hunt for them."

"We've lost most of our men."

"They can be replaced." Severus stated. "Until Caesar's enemies are dead, we will remain vigilant. Our hunt must continue."

"But…"

"Do not question my orders." Severus interrupted. "The will of Caesar must be obeyed."

Marcus considered killing Severus then. It would be easy; he'd simply fire his weapon at point blank range. Severus' armour would be useless if Marcus stuck his SMG in the right place.

But he decided to wait. Maybe their enemies would do the job for him.

* * *

Mark led them away from the vault until they could go no further. They were all tired; vault 225 had taken its toll on them.

They stopped to rest, with Ghost watching the horizon. Mark used the radio to contact Dunn.

"Mercury to Jupiter, Mercury to Jupiter." He waited for a response.

"This is Jupiter, go ahead." Halley responded this time.

"We have it." Mark didn't need to specify what _it _was. "Briggs is dead, we need extraction, ASAP."

"Understood," Halley replied. "Find Legate's Run, we'll send Colby to meet you there. Be there by seven tomorrow, if you're late you'll have to walk back here."

"Got it, over and out." Mark turned off the radio. "Dickhead."

"You really hate him." Emily noticed. "Did he hurt you?"

"Kind of." Mark stated. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"Okay." She nodded. "I won't ask."

Mark considered telling her. He realised that she would probably find out sooner or later. He decided to get it over with. Mara and Jin weren't within earshot and Ghost knew the story anyway.

"I think you ought to know anyway." Mark began. "You remember Halley saying that I know Legion territory?" Emily nodded so he continued. "I was part of a black ops team operating in this area, Dunn was also part of the team. Halley gave us orders to attack a Legion camp; I was in charge of the unit." He paused. "My plan got most of the team killed, there was even friendly fire. The worst part of it was that we didn't attack a Legion camp. It was a tribal group. They gave the Legion information in exchange for safety, but they were mostly innocent. And we gunned them all down. All of them."

Emily was listening in silence. She looked shocked, but there was no anger or disgust on her face. Mark had expected her to recoil, but she was just surprised.

"After that, I decided to leave the NCR before they forced me to." Mark continued. "I'd lost men before, but never in that way and never for something like that. In fact, Dunn was right; I never cared until it was far too late."

"That's not true, Mark." Emily said, laying a hand on his arm. "You do care. If you didn't, then we'd be dead too." She sighed. "If you didn't care, I'd still be lost in the wasteland. I'd probably be dead without you."

Mark looked her in the eye and saw that she wasn't lying. "Thanks Emily."

She smiled. "Anytime."

* * *

They set off again the next morning. They had to reach Legate's Run before they missed the rendezvous. They had no idea how Colby would get them out of Legion territory.

A boat was out of the question, they needed something faster and walking was suicidal.

It was a long, difficult walk. The terrain wasn't friendly. The rocky ground was rough and unforgiving under their feet.

"How much further?" Jin asked.

"Not too far now." Emily glanced at her pip-boy. "It's almost six thirty, Mark."

"Don't worry." He told her. "We'll be out of here soon."

He could see their destination. It was a flat piece of land, flanked by boulders. It was fairly open and seemed to be an odd place for an evac.

"That's it." He pointed. "We're early, but that's better than late in this case."

There was a distant crack. A gunshot.

Something hit the rocks ahead. Bullets.

"In the name of Caesar," a voice called. "Stay where you are."

Mark turned with a sense of dread. He saw the plume of a Praetorian approaching.

"That's a big fucking gun." Jin muttered. He'd seen the anti-materiel rifle the Praetorian was carrying. The gun he had used to kill Briggs.

"You have crossed us, strangers." The Praetorian stated. "The Caesar has demanded your deaths and the Legion obeys."

"Severus." Mark murmured. "They sent you after us? We must have pissed Caesar off."

"You know this guy?" Mara frowned.

"Not personally." Mark said. "He's a Legion elite, part of the attack on Hoover Dam."

"Correct." Severus acknowledged. "What you found in that vault is now ours. Surrender and Caesar may show you mercy."

"Mercy?" Mark scoffed. "From the Legion? You mean he'll make us into slaves or crucify us." He drew his handgun and aimed it at Severus. "I'd rather die."

"There is no-one coming to help you, NCR." Severus grated. "You're alone out here."

"What's that noise?" The man next to Severus, carrying a 12.7mm SMG, had noticed something.

Mark heard it too, a low whirring sound.

Ghost recognised it almost immediately. "Vertibirds!"

He was right. Two NCR vertibirds had appeared, flying from behind Severus and his soldiers.

The legionaires were distracted. Mark knew what was coming next.

"Go!" He shouted. They began to run towards the flat land. The vertibirds were equipped with miniguns.

They opened fire. Several of the legionaries were shredded by a hail of bullets.

Marcus saw Severus hit the ground. At least the vertibirds had saved him the trouble.

He ran forwards and took aim with his SMG. He fired a short burst.

Mara yelped and staggered. She could feel blood, but her armour had taken the brunt of the damage, she would live.

Marcus was chasing them onto Legate's Run, still firing his SMG.

"We need to lose these bastards!" Jin shouted.

"Keep going!" Ghost dropped a mine, hoping that Marcus wouldn't notice it.

Unfortunately, he did.

He shot the mine. Ghost hit the ground, dazed but alive.

Marcus advanced on him, SMG aimed at his head.

The legionnaire cried out in pain suddenly as Jin's power fist slammed into his back. He felt the bones breaking.

Jin smashed the fist into his legs next, forcing him onto his knees.

The last thing Marcus saw was the barrel of Mara's shotgun aimed at his face.

She pulled the trigger. Marcus' head exploded into a cloud of red mist, gore and bone.

The vertibirds were coming in; they had their left side hatches open.

They knew what they had to do.

"We'll cover you," Ghost pointed at the first vertibird. "Get Mara onto that vertibird."

Bullets were flying past them. Caesar's Legion wasn't going to let them leave easily.

The vertibird sped over the dusty surface, slowing down enough for Mara and Jin to run up and climb in.

Ghost pulled himself onto the vertibird. "Come on!" He yelled. The craft was still moving quickly.

Mark fired another burst from his carbine. Emily fired the last shot in her MFC and began to run to the vertibird.

Ghost reached out and pulled her on-board. Mark began to sprint after the departing vehicle.

The dust was being kicked up and spun by the vertibird's rotors, obscuring vision.

Mark needed to hurry up, or he'd be left behind.

Despite the dust, Ghost saw it first. The plume of Severus' helmet.

Severus lifted his anti-materiel rifle. If he fired at the right spot, he could bring the metal bird and its passengers down in one shot. He ignored the blood running down his face and concentrated.

He loaded an explosive round and took aim.

Ghost also aimed his sniper rifle, but the vertibird was shaking and the dust made it harder to see. This was going to be his hardest shot. If he failed, then Severus would kill them.

Ghost steadied his breathing and aimed.

Mark was still running, catching up. Emily had her hand out reaching for him.

Severus settled the crosshairs on the vertibird's hull. One squeeze of the trigger and it would crash and burn.

He noticed the ghoul aiming a battered sniper rifle at him. He doubted that the rifle could penetrate his armour.

But Ghost wasn't aiming at his chest.

If time had slowed down, the last thing Severus would have seen was the bullet smash through the scope of his anti-materiel rifle and continue through his eye and out of his brain.

There was a look of astonishment on Severus' face as he fell onto his back, dead before he hit the ground.

"Mark!" Emily almost screamed. "Come on!"

Mark reached. Their hands locked together.

Suddenly he was dangling in the air as the vertibird gained height. Emily and Ghost pulled him inside.

"Close one, Boss." Ghost remarked. "I hope you're not out of shape."

Emily squeezed next to him on the seat. She looked just as adrenaline driven as he felt.

She held out her hand. Mark took it, their fingers laced together.

"That was an unbelievable shot, Ghost." Emily said.

"I got lucky." Ghost shrugged.

"I can't believe that we all survived that." Jin was a little shaky. "I mean… wow!"

"And we're twenty-five thousand caps up in life." Mara added. Her wound was painful, but not severe. "I call that a win."

"But what happens next?" Jin wondered.

"Let's discuss that over some drinks." Ghost said. "It's been a long day and I could murder a beer."

* * *

_**I had fun writing this chapter. **_

_**I admit that the cyborgs fought in the vault were inspired by the ones from **_**Command and Conquer:****Kane's Wrath**_**. **_

_**I am aware that there were less than two hundred vaults made for the social experiments. Vault 225 (as a made up vault) is actually a military installation rather than a protective/experimental bunker.**_

_**Legate's Run is also made up, don't bother looking for it.**_


	16. Revelations

They landed at Camp McCarran late in the afternoon, landing on the old runway.

"You might as well stay in the airport today." Colby said as he hopped out of the vertibird. "We've got room and I reckon you need some rest."

"Too right." Mara yawned. "I need some shuteye."

"Commander Halley will see you when he's ready." Colby led Mara, Jin and Ghost into the terminal. Mark was about to follow them, but he stopped.

Emily was still standing on the runway, staring up at the sky again.

He walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "We made it."

"Yes." She murmured. "I'm glad we destroyed that place."

"Don't dwell on that, Emily." Mark told her. "We all made it out alive; I think that's worth something."

Emily turned. Now she was face to face with him, standing on tiptoes and leaning against him. She pressed her lips against his, wrapping her arms around him.

It was only a brief kiss, probably for stress relief, but it left them feeling thrilled all the same.

She smiled at him. "What shall we do next?"

"Who knows?" He answered. "Maybe we could see Vegas again."

"I'd like that."

"Very well, we'll do that." Mark agreed. "Let's give Halley that device and then we'll have plenty of caps to spend."

* * *

Halley met them in his office a few hours later, he'd been busy.

Dunn was there with Colby. Mark couldn't be sure, but Dunn didn't seem to be quite as confident as usual.

Halley sat down at his desk. "Show me this device."

Emily produced the odd cylinder and held it out for him. "Here it is, along with the blueprints for the channel we found." She said. "It's powerful and I don't think it's entirely manmade."

"Building this thing you described is going to be impossible." Dunn said.

"Perhaps not." Halley was examining the device. "I know a place for this."

"Really, sir?" Dunn raised his eyebrows. "Where?"

"That's top secret, Sergeant." Halley stated. "But this will be a great help to us. I'll see to your payments in the morning."

"You wouldn't be double crossing us?" Ghost challenged. "Would you?"

"No," Colby shook his head. "The NCR looks after its friends. Besides, I saw what you did to that Praetorian, I'd think twice about betraying you."

"You can rest in the terminal tonight." Dunn told them. "You deserve some rest."

"I could use some medical help." Mara said. "I took a bullet during the extraction. It's not too bad, but I'd like to get rid of it."

"We'll see to it." Colby assured her.

"That was good work." Halley said, still examining the device. "Maybe you should return to the NCR, Kelson."

"I don't think so, Halley." Mark muttered.

Halley glanced at him. There was no hostility or any emotion on his face. "You are dismissed."

* * *

Mara winced and gritted her teeth as the medic extracted the bullet. Her armour had stopped it from causing major damage; it had lodged into her back, narrowly missing her spine.

"You're lucky." The medic dropped the bloodied metal into a tray. "It was a standard round, no poisons or anything. Anything else?"

"My friend spent some time in a radioactive area." Mara said. "Can you see if she's okay?"

"We'll scan her." The medic said. "You can go now."

Mara stood up and put her armour back on. She'd become used to spending days wearing it.

The medic quickly checked Emily and confirmed that she was fine, no ill effects. They had applied enough rad-away to keep her safe.

The two of them joined their friends in the terminal. It was hardly five star treatment, but none of them felt inclined to walk back to Vegas yet.

Ghost had taken a table, placed cards, food and beers on its surface, and was playing poker with Jin and Mark.

Despite his confidence, Jin had a lousy poker face. Mark was good at the game though.

"Found these for you two." Jin held out a fourth beer and a bottle of Nuka-Cola. Mara and Emily took the drinks and joined the game.

Like Jin, Emily wasn't the world's greatest poker player, but she was good at maths, which gave her a slight edge.

That was how they passed the time until they had nothing better to do than sleep.

The NCR soldier outside just continued their shifts, ignoring the visitors as they had been ordered to.

Patrols came and went, the monorail facilitated quick travel for officers and the odd Fiend attack was repelled.

Just another average night for Camp McCarran. Or so people thought.

* * *

Mark awoke to find two things. The first was that Emily had slept next to him and had once again put her arm over his chest. The second was a note next to his carbine.

"Meet me on the runway for your payment. H."

Mark woke Emily as he sat up to reach the note. She wasn't as embarrassed this time and gave him a warm smile.

"Morning, Boss." Ghost was already awake, sitting in one of the chairs and cleaning his sniper rifle. "It's not classy, but this makes a change from sleeping in the wasteland."

"Did you see Halley drop this?" Mark held up the note.

"No, we were all asleep." Ghost shook his head. He prodded Mara and Jin. "Rise and shine, it's payday."

Mara and Jin grumbled as they sat up with their sleep interrupted.

As they gathered their things, it occurred to Mark that the runway was an odd place to pick up a payment.

But Halley was an odd man, these things made sense in his mind.

They walked out onto the sunlit, deserted runway. It was another bright Mojave day, but after the time they had spent in vault 225, Mark decided to tolerate the heat.

"Lovely day." Jin stated. "Good for a walk."

"Going somewhere?" Mara inquired.

"Not sure." Jin shrugged. "I was thinking of a day or two in Vegas."

"Don't spend caps you haven't got yet." Ghost advised. "Halley seems to be taking his time."

"He said he'd meet us here." Mark was starting to feel uneasy.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Boss." Ghost muttered.

"So have I." Emily added.

Mark saw someone approaching. But it was only an NCR soldier.

However, he was walking towards them. Mark saw his gun go up and aim at something.

He was aiming at them.

More NCR troopers appeared from all around them, surrounding them with aimed and loaded weapons. They were closing in, a tightening circle.

Dunn and Colby were with them; their weapons were also aimed.

"Do not move!" A voice coming from a loudspeaker ordered. A jeep had appeared with a man on the back aiming a fifty calibre machinegun at them.

"If this is the NCR's gratitude," Ghost murmured. "Then I'd hate to see their anger."

"Mark, what is this?" Emily was just as befuddled. "Why are they doing this?"

"Hand it over, Kelson!" Colby barked, aiming his rifle at Mark's head.

"Hand what over?" Mark frowned. "Our guns?"

"Don't play dumb with us," Dunn growled, aiming his marksman carbine at Emily. "Hand over the device."

"We gave it to Halley." Emily said. "We haven't stolen it or anything like that."

"It's gone." Colby stated. His automatic rifle was close to Mark's face. "You took it or destroyed it. Tell us where it is!"

"I don't have the damn thing!" Mark protested.

Colby swung his rifle, hitting Mark in the ribs with the heavy barrel. Mark staggered, winded by the blow.

"Mark!" Emily whipped out her pistol and aimed it at Colby; it was almost in his face. "Get away from him or I'll shoot!"

They'd all gone back to back. Ghost had his knife and pistol out, Mara had drawn her magnum and Jin had his power fist drawn back for a punch.

"Stop this," Mark stood up, gripping his sidearm. "Colby, Dunn, we don't have the device. We came out to be paid for giving it to you."

"We dropped that note." Dunn stated. "When the device went missing, Halley said that it had to be you. You've had a grudge against him ever since that business in the east."

"Okay, I hate the man." Mark admitted. "But we didn't steal that device. Where is Halley? Let us talk to him."

"Halley took the monorail to Vegas last night," Colby stated. "He has business there."

"Janus…" Emily breathed.

"What?" Dunn frowned. "The operation isn't over, because you took that device. Now give it back or we'll shoot all five of you here and now!"

"Shut and listen!" Emily snapped, still angry with the way Colby had hit Mark. "Think about it, the device goes missing, Halley blames us then he goes to Vegas. Why wouldn't he stay here to question us or search for his precious piece of tech? Because he still has it, he's the one who's stolen it!"

"That's brahmin shit, girl!" Dunn hissed. "Halley would never betray the NCR."

"He even gave us a clue." Emily ignored him. "Janus: the two faced Roman god. Halley was working for the NCR, but he's also working for somebody else."

"Who then?" Dunn sneered. "The Legion? House?"

"Dunn," Colby said quietly. "She's making sense."

"What?"

"Troopers, stand down." Colby ordered. "Let's talk like civilised people."

* * *

Colby led them into the terminal. They were watched by four NCR soldiers and Dunn.

They were led into another office; this one was occupied by a man Mark recognised immediately.

"Colonel Hsu?" He frowned.

Colonel James Hsu was the commanding officer of Camp McCarran. He was well known as a man who cared for his soldiers. It was also said that he would have been a general if not for General Oliver's interference.

Unlike Halley, he also expressed concern. "Are you injured?"

"Your Ranger hit him." Emily directed a venomous glance at Colby.

"I told you not to hurt them, Ranger Colby." Hsu stated. "Please, understand his actions though." He looked at them with eyes that seemed to understand them. "We have lost men to Halley's Operation Janus and have risked the wrath of Caesar's Legion. Personally, I don't mind taking action against them, but General Oliver told us to be discreet, which is why Halley hired you."

"He didn't mention stabbing us in the back." Ghost growled.

"I am just as surprised as you are, Ghost." Hsu stood up and examined the five of them for a moment. "Halley is no traitor; at least he didn't seem to be. Please, tell me why you suspect him."

Emily repeated her reasons. Hsu merely listened and processed them before nodding.

"I see." He murmured. "I believe you."

"Sir?" Dunn frowned.

"Halley arrived in Vegas last night, but he vanished before sunrise." Hsu stated. "What we don't know is why he would betray us."

"Perhaps I can answer that." Ghost stepped forwards. "When Halley told us about vault 225, he said that an NCR soldier had seen its door. But now that I think about it, the NCR doesn't patrol that far east, there are no roads for a start and it's crawling with Caesar's Legion."

Hsu nodded. "He mentioned a survivor though."

"What happened to him?" Mara asked.

"He… died." Colby frowned as he put the pieces together. "He had an infected wound."

"It could have been faked." Emily reasoned. "You could use poisons to do that. What was he infected with?"

"Halley said that he ran afoul of cazadors."

Hsu was still putting these pieces together. "Please continue, Ghost."

"We found five dead soldiers in the vault, sent to retrieve the same power source." He explained. "Enclave soldiers. Now, this sounds crazy, but they had been dead for a while, I reckon that somebody was tired of waiting and decided to hire five nobodies like us to find the tech instead."

"Are you saying…?" Dunn began.

"I'm saying that Halley was playing us from the start." Ghost continued. "He didn't want the power source for the NCR; he wanted it for the Enclave."

"This is… crazy, Colonel!" Dunn protested.

"It makes more sense than five wanderers giving up the chance to earn twenty five thousand caps by enraging the NCR." Hsu argued. "All the evidence tells me that Commander Halley has betrayed the NCR, or maybe he was working for the Enclave all along, maybe he was a double agent."

"And now he's shown his true colours." Emily agreed. "He's taken the device to the Enclave. With that kind of power… who knows what they could do with it?"

"Which is why we must take it back." Hsu stated. "Mark, I know you've done a lot for us already and it seems to have come to nothing, but we need your help."

"Again?" Mark raised his eyebrows. "You're going to trust us?"

"We'll double your reward." Hsu said. "Halley has a lot of information, stuff that compromise the NCR, Vegas, everybody in the Mojave could be at risk."

"The money doesn't matter to me." Mark shook his head. "I have a score to settle with Halley. He risked out lives and stabbed us in the backs, this is personal now. Plus, I don't want the Enclave ruling over the Mojave."

"I understand." Hsu accepted. "We're going to dispatch our Rangers to help, but I believe that the five of you have the best chance of finding him."

"Where do we start?" Mara asked. "We haven't really thought this through."

"Nevada." Ghost stated. "I remember an old Enclave safe house out there. Halley needs help; he's going to find his Enclave buddies. I can lead you to the safe house."

Mark turned to the others. "If any of you want to leave, now's your chance."

"Not a chance." Mara growled. "I'm with you."

"Me too." Jin agreed. "We're not backing out now."

"In that case," Ghost thought for a few moments. "We're going to need transport to the edge of Nevada, armour piercing rounds, heavy weapons and some fancy tech, including shield disruptors and radar jammers."

Hsu didn't protest or even hesitate. "Very well." He accepted. "We'll fuel a vertibird for you and I'll tell the quartermaster to give you restricted access to the armoury. When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as possible." Mark answered. "We'll gather some gear and head to the runway as soon as we're ready."

He didn't wait to be dismissed, not that Hsu bothered with that sort of thing, and walked out of the office with his friends behind him.

The stakes had risen and so had the opposition. This had become more than a chance to help the NCR and gain some caps for it.

It had become a mission to protect the Mojave wasteland and its people from the Enclave.

A chance for redemption.

* * *

_**Not the most original move in history, but I always meant to throw in the Enclave at some point. **_

_**I'm not entirely sure about Nevada's location in relation to the Mojave, but it seemed like a good place to place the Enclave for this story. My choice will make sense soon enough.**_


	17. Into Nevada

The quartermaster was not pleased to see them taking even more gear from the armoury. Hsu wanted them to succeed though, so they had full access to whatever gear they needed.

They had nothing to get through shields, but Emily and Jin jury-rigged some tech they found to create an improvised EMP emitter.

Mara took a missile launcher with her, Mark took a grenade launcher. Emily took a number of plasma grenades and pulse grenades. Jin found another minigun, made sure that it worked, and took it as a support weapon. Ghost just took extra ammo, mostly armour piercing rounds. He also made sure that the others took effective ammunition. It was a simple matter of taking armour piercing rounds for Mark and Jin. Mara was in luck though; the NCR armoury had some new ammunition from the Gun Runners, including pulse and flechette 12ga rounds. She also took some dragon's breath rounds.

Emily's rifle was custom made and she could adjust the charge and temperature of the beam it fired. She increased these settings, improving the rifle's chance of burning through armour. She would have to maintain her weapons carefully though, to avoid burning out vital components.

According to Ghost, Nevada was even more hostile than the Mojave. They had to be prepared for more danger and the Enclave too.

After they were finished in the armoury, they walked to the vertibird on the runway.

Hsu was waiting for them. "I've dispatched Rangers across the Mojave and sent some into Nevada." He told them. "But it looks like you five will be on your own. We simply don't have enough troops."

"We'll be fine." Mark assured him. "We'll call you once we find Halley."

"Good luck." Hsu said as the five of them stepped into the vertibird. "Godspeed."

He had to step back as the vertibird spun its rotors and took off. Ghost had arranged a flight plan; they would land on the edge of Nevada and continue on foot to avoid being detected.

If Halley spotted an incoming vertibird that didn't belong to the Enclave, he'd flee. They wanted to catch him as quickly and as quietly as they could.

"What does Godspeed mean?" Emily asked.

"Good luck." Ghost explained. "It's from an old pre-war religion."

"One thing I've got to know, how did you know what Janus was?" Jin asked Emily.

"It was the name of a project I worked on back in vault 117." Emily answered after a pause. "A chameleon system, it was meant to surpass stealth-boys."

"Did it work?"

"No." Emily shook her head. "Even if it did, it was lost." She didn't go any further.

Nobody asked her to explain the rest. They had probably guessed what had happened to her home, but they still didn't know why she had destroyed it.

Ghost seemed to handle flying better than the rest of them. It was similar to when they had been inside vault 225, only Emily had been used to the feeling of being underground.

Ghost, as a former Enclave soldier, was used to travelling in vertibirds. He was content to answer Emily's questions about them.

"Reckon this tech everybody's worried about has something to do with GECKs?" Jin asked.

"No, a GECK is different." Emily said. "The thing we found is weird and certainly more powerful than a fusion system, but it's not a GECK."

"What could the Enclave want with it?" Mara wondered aloud.

"We'll ask Halley when we find him." Mark told her. "He's got a lot to explain."

* * *

As arranged, the vertibird dropped them off at the edge of Nevada. Night had fallen by the time they arrived.

Ghost was confident that he could find the Enclave safe house though. He led the way across the dusty land and into the night.

It was a long walk and they were in dangerous territory.

Ghost stopped occasionally to read signs on the ground. Most of them were from wild animals, but he found a few that were from Enclave soldiers.

He led them onwards for a few more hours until he found something promising.

"See this," he pointed at the ground. The wind had died down recently. They could see that the dust had flown outwards for some reason. "A vertibird passed here, close to the ground, and it wasn't ours."

"Halley used a vertibird?" Mara frowned. "He didn't take any from the NCR."

"The Enclave has plenty of them." Ghost explained. "He must have rendezvoused with one near Vegas."

"Are we close?" Mark asked.

"Hard to say." Ghost shrugged. "Vertibirds can fly for a while, but I'd wager that they needed to stop for fuel." He stood up. "If we find Halley's vertibird, we should disable it, cut off his escape."

"Sounds good." Mark nodded. "We've got some C4. If all else fails, we have a missile launcher."

"And a minigun." Jin added.

"I'd recommend stealth." Ghost advised. "The Enclave isn't a group to be taken lightly, even if they have been crippled. They're still deadly, well trained and carrying heavy firepower."

"I'll take your word on that, Ghost." Mark said. "Let's keep going."

* * *

Despite their need to find Halley before he left Nevada, they had to stop. They couldn't capture a traitor if they were too tired to fight.

As Mark sat on watch, keeping an eye on the dusty lands ahead, Emily walked over and sat next to him.

He noticed that she was nervous. "Are you okay?"

"Mark, there's something we need to talk about." She said. "It's… important."

"I'm listening."

"We… kissed in Camp McCarran." She was speaking quietly, trying not to be overheard. "It just seemed right at the time."

"I'm not complaining."

"That's the problem." Emily sighed. "I don't know how you feel about me." She put her hand on his. "Mark, I feel something when I'm with you, but I don't know if you feel the same."

Mark gazed at her. He wasn't entirely sure how he had fallen in love with this girl, but that didn't matter. To him, she was the one bright spot in the wasteland.

A grain of hope in a handful of dust.

"I understand how you feel." He admitted. "Because I feel the same way about you."

Emily was startled. Maybe she had expected him to reject her or tell her to wait.

But there it was, the honest truth, at last.

Without another word, or any warning, she threw her arms around him and pressed her lips against his again in a long, passionate kiss.

Mark responded to her, putting her arms around her and kissing her back.

"Aww," Mara had noticed them. "That's so sweet."

"You owe me five caps." Jin told her.

"You can have them." Mara smiled. "It's just nice to see them together."

"Then what were you betting on?" Ghost inquired.

"How long it would take them." Mara shrugged. "Come on, we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later."

Mark and Emily just ignored them though. Whatever guesswork or bets the others had made didn't matter to them. They had each other now.

* * *

Time was still against them, along with many Enclave soldiers.

Ghost insisted that they should press on; Mark knew that his advice was worth heeding.

The ghoul led them onwards throughout the rest of the night and early morning.

They finally found the safe house after two more hours. It was hidden in a valley, but it hardly needed to be hidden.

It was more of an outpost than a safe house. There were two small buildings, surrounded by razor wire and patrolled by robots and Enclave soldiers.

There were four vehicles present at the back of the building, two jeeps, an APC and a vertibird.

The jeeps and the APC were not like the ones the NCR had salvaged, they were advanced and heavily armed and armoured. The two jeeps had metal canopies, rugged tires and miniguns instead of 50cal machineguns.

The APC was a tough six wheeled vehicle with twin-linked Gatling lasers and a missile launcher.

"There's Halley's vertibird." Ghost pointed at it. "We need to disable it or he'll run."

"What about those?" Mara pointed at the other vehicles.

"Disabling those is a good idea too." Ghost said. "But unlike the vertibird, we can track them easily."

"There are too many guards." Mark shook his head. "How are we going to get past them?"

Ghost thought for a moment. "I'll see if I can lure one out." He answered. "I'll kill him and take his armour. Provided I don't do anything stupid or get too close, I should be able to fool them."

"Okay, go for it." Mark nodded. "We'll cover you."

"Take this." Ghost passed Mark his sniper rifle. "Don't break it. You'll know when to fire."

Ghost crept down the slope and down into a ditch. He had his knife in his hand and was creeping towards the outpost, using rocks and bushes for cover.

He caught sight of an Enclave trooper outside the fence, alone.

"Maine," he called softly. It was a code word his squad had used when he had been an Enclave soldier. It was basically a call for assistance. "Maine."

The soldier moved towards the sound, rifle raised. The code word probably meant something different to him.

He stopped and aimed his rifle at the disturbance. But there was nothing there.

Ghost slammed into him and drove the knife into his neck, dragging the trooper down into cover and out of sight.

It would have worked, except the Enclave soldier had been ready for a fight.

His finger had been resting on the trigger of his plasma rifle. They all heard it fire.

An alarm began to blare. More Enclave troopers and robots began to appear. One of the jeeps had moved out of the compound.

"Shit!" Mara hissed. "Now what?"

"There's too many." Mark breathed. "We can't take them all."

"Should we surrender?" Emily whispered.

"I don't think the Enclave accepts surrenders." Jin murmured, easing his minigun into position. "Not from wastelanders anyway."

"They're going for Ghost!" Emily pointed at the Enclave soldiers lining up like a firing squad.

Mark acted on instinct, taking aim with the sniper rifle and firing. Ghost kept the scope zeroed perfectly. He had also loaded armour piercing rounds.

The first round hit the soldier in the head and killed him instantly. But it also alerted the other troopers.

Several of them turned and opened fire on their position.

Jin moved behind a rock and lay down suppressing fire with his minigun. Mara aimed her missile launcher and fired. The three Enclave soldiers in the jeep disappeared in a flash of light. Severed limbs and twisted metal pieces were the only remains.

The second jeep had moved up and was strafing their position with bullets. To make matters worse, the APC was entering the field.

All they had to do now was bring the vertibird into play.

Mark fired the last round in the sniper rifle, but it wasn't enough.

The Enclave soldiers opened fire on the Ghost. The relentless streams of plasma and laser fire had ended the Ghoul's life.

"Bastards!" Mark raged. He picked up his carbine, stood up and opened fire.

He was next.

A bullet from the jeep's minigun hit him in the shoulder. Another one hit him the torso.

Mark fell back, bleeding and barely conscious. He heard Emily shout his name. She tried to reach him, to give him aid, but an Enclave soldier appeared behind her and smashed the butt of his rifle into her head, knocking her out. She went sprawling into the dust and lay still with blood flowing from her head.

The Enclave soldier heard a shotgun being pumped. Mara fired a dragon's breath round into him.

For all its protectiveness, the armour didn't protect him from a 12ga flechette round at close range. Mara blew out most of his torso with a single shot.

Jin stopped firing. He had dropped his minigun and was holding his hands in the air. Mara could see that the fight was hopeless too, they were surrounded by Enclave soldiers and the APC was aiming its weapons at them.

As his consciousness faded, Mark heard an Enclave soldier talking into his radio.

"We have them, Commander." He listened to the reply. "Understood. Patch them up, we don't want any of them bleeding to death. Lock up their weapons."

Two soldiers reached down and lifted Mark up. As they dragged him away, he lost the fight to stay awake.

Ghost was gone and his friends were captured. Words couldn't sum up how dire things were.

* * *

Mark woke up to find himself in a chair. He was restrained by it. He could feel bandages around his shoulder and stomach. They wanted him alive.

Where were the others? Were they dead?

"Commander, he's awake." A muffled voice, an Enclave soldier, announced.

"Thank you, trooper." This voice was a little tinny. But he knew that it was Halley.

The man himself was speaking via a wall mounted screen. He was now wearing an Enclave officer's uniform.

"Mark Kelson, I should have guessed that you would pursue me." He said. "You'll soon be wishing that the NCR had just arrested and imprisoned you and your sorry misfits."

"I know you're going to kill me, Halley." Mark grimaced. "But don't bore me to death."

"I don't intend to. However you die, you will not be bored." Halley assured him. "I would order my men to kill you now, but I need information from you."

"Fancy that," Mark muttered. "The great Commander Halley doesn't know something."

"Do not try my patience, Kelson." Halley was not even irritated. "We have little time. Allow me to explain the situation. You are sitting in a specially made chair. I could order my men to prepare you for several thousand volts of electricity. Or smaller amounts just for pain."

"So you're going to torture me." Mark guessed.

"No."

"Then why are you showing off?" Mark was trying to find a way to escape the chair, but it was hopeless. "Just ask me the damn questions."

"I will, in a moment." Halley was playing with him. "You see, torture can be very unreliable. We've studied it. Eventually, the subject is in so much pain they will tell the torturer absolutely _anything _to escape." He paused. "With the Enclave, this is my speciality, knowing when the subject is lying to avoid pain. However, I believe that there is a loophole."

"Talk me into submission?" Mark suggested. "It's working pretty well."

"Nothing so mundane. But much more painful." Halley stated. "You see, a subject might tell us anything to save himself. But what would he tell us to save someone else?"

Mark hadn't noticed the second chair. It was empty, but the message was clear.

"What do you want, Halley?" Mark asked slowly.

"I'd also be fascinated to see why you have suddenly started to care for others." Halley ignored the question. "If you like, you can view this as an experiment that will help the Enclave."

A door opened and two Enclave soldiers dragged in a hooded body.

They strapped the victim into the chair and removed the hood. Mark had guessed that it was Emily.

"I have simple rules." Halley told them. "There are lie detectors in use, so I will know the truth either way. I will ask Mark a question, if he lies or refuses to answer, then I will torture you, Emily." He explained. "If you tell him not to answer, I will torture you. If you lie or refuse, Emily, I will torture him. If you answer my questions truthfully, I will not torture you. Does that sound fair?"

"Fuck you!" Mark spat.

"I'll take that as a no." Halley shook his head. "I believe an example is in order."

An officer stepped forwards and shoved a rag into Emily's mouth. Mark could guess what they were doing. They didn't want her to accidentally bite off her own tongue.

"No wait!" He protested. "Don't hurt her!"

"This will teach you to think before you speak." Halley stated.

Mark didn't hear the electricity. Emily suddenly jerked as the current coursed through her body.

Mark could hear her screaming, muffled by the rag, but still just as harrowing.

The shock was brief, but it had done enough.

"The first question," Halley began. "Who in the NCR sent you after me?"

Emily tried to protest through the rag. It earned her another shock.

"Colonel Hsu." Mark answered, feeling doubly wretched. Emily was in pain because of him and he was ratting out the NCR. "He sent us after you."

"Not General Oliver?" Halley raised his eyebrows. "I'm almost insulted. Then again, Hsu was always the smart one." He nodded at the officer in the room. "Next question…"

The door opened again. An Enclave trooper came running in, clearly in a hurry.

"Sir, they've escaped!" He panted.

"What?" Halley snapped.

"The two prisoners, sir." The Enclave soldier explained. "They killed their guards and escaped. They're running to the APC."

"They're more resourceful than I anticipated." Halley murmured. "Officer, send troopers to investigate."

The officer spoke into a radio. Mark heard a klaxon blare briefly.

"I'm afraid that we will have to kill your friends." Halley didn't sound apologetic. "But you never really cared about them, did you?"

"Ask me the damn question!" Mark hissed.

"You pretend to care about Emily, what for?" Halley continued to toy with him. "Loyalty? Trust? Sex?"

Emily tried to say something through the rag, something along the lines of: "That's not true."

Mark bit back his retort. "Ask me the question, Halley."

"I think it's Emily's turn to answer questions now." Halley said. "Now then…"

There was a sound like thunder and the building shook.

"Report!" Halley barked.

"There was an explosion, sir." The officer reported. "The soldiers I sent out have all been killed."

Halley glanced at the Enclave soldier. "Trooper, go and investigate."

"I already know what happened, Halley." With those words the trooper turned and shot the Enclave officer. The plasma bolts turned him into thick green sludge.

"What are you doing?" Halley demanded. "You traitor!"

"I'm no traitor." The trooper removed his helmet and cast it aside. "I'm just an old man who knows too much."

"Ghost!" Emily almost screamed through the rag.

"My men said you were dead!" Halley hissed, losing control.

"I've already died once." Ghost began to release Mark from the chair. "I didn't enjoy it, so I prefer to remain alive now."

They could hear intense gunfire outside. It sounded like miniguns.

Ghost handed Mark his 22 pistol when he had released him. He freed Emily and gave her the dead officer's plasma pistol.

"We're coming for you, Halley." Mark growled. "We will find you. We will kill you."

"Many people have tried before, Mark." Halley stated. "I'll be ready for you."

The screen turned black. Halley had cut the transmission.

"Who's fighting?" Emily asked.

"Jin and Mara went to secure the veritibird." Ghost explained. "I left a present, a nice bit of C4, for the Enclave soldiers. Jin and Mara have enough firepower to finish them off." He grunted and removed the power armour; he was still wearing his leather armour underneath. "I'd forgotten how heavy that stuff is." He muttered. "Follow me, we'll grab our gear and take the vertibird."

"Who's going to fly it?" Mark asked. "We're not pilots."

"Who do you think?" Ghost smirked. "I'm an old ghoul who knows about the Enclave, I think I can handle a helicopter. Now come on, we're already late."

He began to move ahead. Emily was moving slowly, still in pain.

"Emily," Mark began. "I'm…"

"You don't need to apologise." She told him. "But you owe me a trip to somewhere nice."

"It's a deal," Mark agreed. "Once we deal with Halley. I think we've earned it."

* * *

_**Almost done, roughly three chapters left to go now. I have a large battle lined up for the finale too.**_


	18. Into the Deathclaw's den

Evening had arrived since they had been captured. They had retrieved their weapons and had finally stepped outside.

They just had to follow the gunfire to find Mara and Jin.

The two of them were holding off the remaining Enclave soldiers. The APC had been destroyed and Jin was using the jeep's minigun to suppress the Enclave soldiers.

Mark unslung his grenade launcher and fired it. It was pretty final, finishing the fight for good.

"You're late." Jin stated as she stepped down into the dust.

"Go easy on them." Ghost said. "Halley tortured them."

"Bastard!" Mara hissed. "It's a shame we didn't see him for what he was sooner."

"We'll live." Emily assured her.

"Halley will pay." Mara muttered.

"About your plan, Ghost," Jin changed the topic. "The vertibird's controls are locked down."

"I might be able to hack them." Emily stepped into the craft. "Mark, can you give me a hand."

"We'll see if we can find anything." Ghost told her. "Call if you need us." He gestured for Mara and Jin to follow him back into the outpost.

Emily began to work on the vertibird's controls. Mark didn't really know how to help.

Emily sat at the controls and fiddled with some wires. Mark noticed the raised mark on the back of her neck again.

"Emily, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She answered. "What is it?"

"That burn," he paused. "How did you get it?"

Emily stopped for a moment. "Acid."

"Acid?"

"I never told you about my vault." She sighed. "I suppose I ought to. It was a brainwashing experiment; we were made to believe that the vault was the entire world."

Mark was taken aback. He hadn't expected this. "Why?"

"Vault-Tec wanted to see how we could cope with a literal small world. The mainframe was our ruler, even though it was following Vault-Tec programming. The Overseer helped it to brainwash us." She paused again. "I believed it too, despite the headaches and the odd memory of the techniques. I was meant to be a genius with computers, that's where my expertise comes from. It wasn't a bad life either; we were safe for a while."

"What went wrong?"

"A mind can only take so much. That's what Vault-Tec wanted to know." Emily answered. "There was one person, a man called Jerome, who went mad. He then went on a killing spree, usually torturing the people with knives, electricity or acid before killing them. After a few days, only five of us were left with him. We only had a pistol between us and no experience with it." She glanced at her laser rifle. "I hacked a computer and found the schematics for a laser rifle. I had to sneak around alone to find the parts, because the others were too scared."

"Did Jerome ever see you?"

"Once." Emily shivered. "He looked right at me. He was covered in blood. It was in his mouth… he'd been eating his victims for food. He laughed at me and flung a flask at me… I'm putting a lot of trust in you now." She turned her back to him and unfastened her vault suit. There was a large burn, running from her shoulders and down her back, all the way to her waist. It must have been a weak acid, or her clothes had protected her, but the scar was there. She fastened the suit up again. "That's the damage. I ran and locked myself in with the others. Then I managed to build my rifle."

"What happened next?"

"There was a squabble over the damn thing." Emily almost laughed at how absurd that was. "Then he struck. He killed the power in our section. When the lights came on, they were all dead."

"He let you live?"

"I hid, but I think he left me because he wanted to toy with me." Emily shivered again. "The lights came on and there was… blood everywhere. After that, it was a game of cat and mouse, trying to avoid him. In the end, I hid where he wouldn't expect me to; the Overseer's office. That's when I discovered the truth. I hacked the terminal to see if I could access the cameras and I found out about the brainwashing. I didn't know that the main door led to the wasteland, but I knew that I had been lied to my entire life, and that those lies had led to this." She paused again. "I guess that I went mad too. I opened the door and activated the self-destruct. He chased me as I ran to the door. Then the fires began, I heard him scream. I reached the exit. I still remember being blinded by the light. I thought that I had died." She paused again. "But then I was out in the wasteland, I was alive. And then, after weeks alone, I found you."

"Did Jerome die in the explosion?"

"Almost." Emily murmured. "He crawled after me, almost burnt to death. I… I shot him Mark. I made it as painless as I could, I tried to be merciful."

"You did the right thing, Emily." Mark assured her.

She sighed. "So… now that you know, do you…"

"Emily," he reached out and stroked her cheek. "You don't need to ask that question."

She smiled, clearly relieved. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Mark leaned forwards and kissed her briefly on the lips.

"Hey," Jin called. He was walking back with Ghost and Mara. "Are you two finished yet?"

Emily pressed a few more buttons. "Yes, it's ready."

Ghost came in first and sat in the pilot's seat. Mara and Jin were carrying some weapons.

"We found some new toys." Mara grinned. "The Enclave's nasty, but they appreciate firepower."

Ghost clapped his hands together. "Right, let's see if I can fly this thing without crashing." He said. "Emily, you can be my co-pilot. Jin, close the door." He began to check the controls.

"Ghost, look at this." Emily pointed at the display. "It's a flight plan."

"Going nowhere." Ghost noticed. "I guess it's our only shot, Halley didn't leave any clues in the outpost." He examined the controls. "Now, let's see." He pressed a button.

"Weapons primed." The computer announced.

"No, no, no." Ghost pressed it again. "Don't need those yet. How about this one?"

"My confidence is waning." Jin muttered.

"It's better than walking." Mark said. "Trust Ghost, he'll get it right."

The rotors began to spin.

"Aha!" Ghost exclaimed. "Got it, hang on tight."

The vertibird began to hover. Ghost pulled a lever and it left the ground altogether.

Ghost found the controls easier than expected and was soon flying them to wherever Halley had gone.

"I've got this." Ghost assured them. "Emily, you're navigating."

"Okay." She looked at the screen. "Here are the coordinates…"

* * *

The journey didn't take very long. Vertibirds were fast and Halley was still in Nevada. Night had fallen a few minutes ago.

There was still nothing on the map, the coordinates just ended suddenly.

"I can see something." Ghost said. "Mark, what do you make of this?"

Mark looked over his shoulder. He could see what looked like a large airbase, fortified with improvised metal walls.

There were turrets around the perimeter, vertibirds and vehicles on the runway.

"Looks like an airbase." He said. "The Enclave has taken it over."

"There's nothing on the map." Emily stated.

"It's a black-site." Ghost grunted. "Off the map and top secret." He frowned. "Call me mad, but I think we've just found Area 51."

"Come on, Ghost," Mara sighed. "That's just a story."

"You saw vault 225." Ghost argued. "That was filled with crazy shit." He shrugged. "Regardless of what it is, we need to call the NCR. One vertibird isn't going to be enough for this."

"Set this thing down," Mark instructed. "Somewhere out of sight."

"Okay, Boss." Ghost steered the craft towards some hills. "I think this'll do."

He set the vertibird down in a small valley, just big enough for it.

Mark found the radio and turned it on. "This is Misfit," Dunn had thought of the codename. "Come in, Bear."

"Bear here," It was Colby. "Go ahead."

"We've found him." Mark didn't need to specify who. "We can't give you a map, but if you fly into Nevada, you'll see an airbase. That's the target."

"Why can't you tell us where it is?"

"It's off the map." Mark answered. "We think it's Area 51."

Colby paused for a moment. "That makes sense." He accepted. "Watch out for four vertibirds, we'll be there ASAP."

"We're in an Enclave vertibird." Mark warned. "We'll mark it. Over and out." He put the radio away. "Jin, make a mark on the side of this thing." He ordered. "I don't want to be shot down by our allies."

Jin opened the door and walked out. All they could do was wait for the NCR reinforcements to arrive.

Hsu must have persuaded the NCR to be generous, vertibirds didn't grow on trees and they were sending four of them to attack the base.

Jin stepped back into the vertibird. "I carved a picture of a bear into the side." He told them. "I hope they see it before they shoot us."

"Nice work, Jin." Mark nodded. "Ghost, what guns has this thing got?"

"Two Gatling lasers." Ghost answered. "No mini-nukes though."

A few minutes later, Ghost heard something.

"Here they come." He declared, starting up the rotors. "Ready to end this?"

"Let's do it." Mark stated.

Ghost piloted the vertibird into the sky and turned to see the NCR craft approaching. He flashed the lights at them. They flashed back.

"Emily, I can't fly and shoot at the same time." Ghost said. "I'm giving the guns to you, just point and shoot, use the screen."

"Okay." Emily aimed the guns experimentally. "I can do this."

"This is Bear to Misfit." Colby radioed. "We see you. Are you ready?"

"Good to go." Mark replied.

"Roger that." Colby acknowledged. "Commence the attack!"

The Enclave soldiers on the airfield spotted the incoming vertibirds too late. Their defence was hastily organised.

Three of the NCR vertibirds were equipped with miniguns. The other one had rocket pods. Added to the stolen Enclave one with Gatling lasers, they had decent firepower.

"All craft," Colby radioed. "Open fire!"

The five vertibirds began to fire, strafing the runways with bullets, lasers and rockets.

They had to keep moving, despite their advantage they were still vulnerable to incoming fire and the Enclave had plenty of heavy weapons.

"You're on a roll, Emily!" Jin whooped. "Pour it on!"

"Heads up," Ghost warned. "Their sending their vertibirds."

He turned the aircraft round to face the first one. It didn't even have time to turn and aim, Emily shredded it with laser fire.

There was a flash of light. Mark saw one of the NCR vertibirds fall and crash in a flaming heap.

"Misfit, the enemy has SAMs." Colby radioed. "Keep moving!"

"SAMs?" Mara repeated.

"Surface to air missiles." Ghost stated. "Hold on, this is going to get violent."

The vertibird veered as Ghost swerved away from an incoming missile.

"Emily, if you see something with rockets, shoot it." Ghost advised. "In fact, just shoot anything unfriendly."

Emily took that advice and began to shoot at anything that looked hostile.

"Misfit, we're landing troops now." Mark saw a vertibird deposit troopers on the runway and lift off again. "Keep us covered."

"You heard him," Mark said. "Keep shooting."

The vertibird shook and an alarm blared insistently.

"We're hit!" Ghost pressed some buttons. "We can still fly, but manoeuvrability's down and we can't take another direct hit, the armour's compromised."

"And the good news?" Jin asked.

"That was the good news," Ghost grimaced. "The bad news is that they're sending more vertibirds and there are a hundred Enclave soldiers who want to kill us. Anything else?"

"No, I want to jump now."

"Don't shoot the messenger, especially if he's the pilot too." He cursed suddenly. "Damn! There's one on our tail!"

The vertibird was slower now; it was taking Ghost a lot of effort just to turn it around.

Emily opened fire, sending the enemy vertibird down in flames.

An alarm beeped. "Warning: Incoming missile."

The vertibird shuddered madly. Another alarm warbled urgently.

They were spinning. There was fire and smoke entering the fuselage.

"Hang on!" Ghost shouted. "We're going down!" He could see the culprit, an Enclave soldier armed with a missile launcher.

Ghost struggled with the stick and aimed the nose at him as they plummeted.

The Enclave soldier wasn't fast enough. The vertibird crushed him as it slid a few meters and finally ground to a halt on the runway.

"Everybody out!" Ghost yelled. "Before the fuel cells blow!"

They all scrambled out and ran as quickly as they could. There was hardly any cover, but a gutted APC was on the runway and they hid behind it.

The vertibird exploded with a mushroom cloud.

"Now we're in the shit!" Jin shouted over the gunfire.

"At least we can't crash now." Mark checked his carbine. "Let the NCR deal with these guys, we need to find Halley and that power source before he runs." He glanced around the APC. "If we can't take that power source off him, we should destroy it."

"Better than leaving it in the Enclave's hands." Mara agreed. "How are we going to play this?"

"Halley mentioned a place to use that device." Emily recalled. "If it's here, he'll be underground in a chamber like that one in vault 225."

"Okay," Mark stood up. "We make a run for that hanger, Jin and Mara will go first. On my mark." He held up three fingers. "Three… two… one, go!"

Mara and Jin sprinted across the runway to the hanger. Mark, Ghost and Emily gave them covering fire.

"We're next." Mark said. "When you run, don't stop, run as fast as you can."

"Got it." Emily nodded.

"Go!"

The three of them ran across the runway. Energy weapons and ballistics were lighting up the night, bullets, lasers, plasma and explosives were hurtling up and down the base.

Another Enclave vertibird crashed and burned. A couple of NCR soldiers were immolated by a Hellfire trooper.

They reached the hanger doors. Mara kicked open a side door and they moved in.

It was deserted. There were two vertibirds being repaired inside. No soldiers though.

The only thing resembling a soldier, which Jin nearly shot, was a suit of Enclave armour on a stand.

"They're preparing for war." Mark murmured. "That's why Halley wanted that thing, to give them edge."

"Maybe." Emily replied. "But I think it's more than that." She glanced at her pip-boy, groaning when she remembered that it showed nothing. "We need to find a way underground."

"Hey, I was right." Ghost pointed at a computer terminal. "This is Area 51."

Mark could see the name on the screen, the same uniform green lettering, although it seemed to stand out on the computer.

"What next?" Jin muttered. "Aliens?"

"Don't tempt fate." Mara advised. "Look for a hatch or a tunnel."

They spread out, keeping an eye out for doors or tunnels. They could hear the battle raging outside. It sounded like the NCR was winning.

A door was smashed open. Luckily, their guests were NCR. Colby and Dunn entered the hanger with three soldiers.

"We're beating them back." Colby announced. "What are you doing in here?"

"Halley came here for a reason; this is where he's going to use that piece of tech." Mark explained. "He's underground; we're trying to find a way to follow him."

"Got it!" Mara called. She was in the far corner, crouching next to a hatch that had been hidden under a footlocker. "Ghost, you're up."

Ghost knelt down next to it and began to pick the lock. "I never thought that the Enclave would use simple locks." He said. "There we go." He opened the hatch. "We'll have to go one at a time, any volunteers?"

"I'll go." Mark stepped onto the ladder. "I'll let you know if it's clear."

"Be careful, Mark." Emily said.

"I'm always careful." Mark assured her. He took another step and almost slipped on the rungs. "Do they grease ladders?"

"No." Ghost shook his head. "Watch your footing."

Mark reached the bottom of the ladder after a few moments and dropped down onto the metal floor. He was in completely different world compared to the airbase above.

It wasn't even like vault 225. The corridors were like wide triangles, with long white lights running along the walls.

"It's clear." He called. He stayed wary though, just in case anything unpleasant jumped out.

Mara and Emily came down next, followed by Ghost and Jin. To Mark's surprise, Colby and Dunn joined them, along with their soldiers.

"We should be careful." Mark told them. "Halley will left surprises for us." He led the way, followed by the others.

They were mostly using guesswork, Emily's map still showed nothing. All they knew was that they had to descend deeper into the base.

The sounds of battle were muffled by the earth above their heads.

They passed through another corridor and descended some stairs before they found the second part of Area 51.

They found themselves in a larger corridor, lined with shielded, transparent tanks of kind.

They could see odd items inside, some were vaguely recognisable and others were completely bizarre.

One had what looked like an early plasma weapon inside; the one next to it had some sort of weird, glowing item that vaguely resembled a large gun.

The next one had a body preserved inside. It was fairly small, with greyish-green skin and large eyes in an oversized head.

"What is that?" Jin whispered.

"It's an alien." Ghost stated. "There are a lot of theories, but some people reckon that plasma weapons were developed using alien technology."

The next few tanks contained pieces of wreckage that were no human in origin. There was also a piece of early power armour.

"The Enclave must have been thrilled to find this place." Mara guessed. "All this tech and knowledge, they're not going to let it go without a fight."

They pressed on, entering a wider corridor that contained no specimens.

"Turrets!" Emily fired her rifle.

The two Enclave turrets also fired, they were armed with rapid fire laser weapons.

"Cover me," Emily called. She was holding a pulse grenade.

Mark and Colby opened fire on the turrets, drawing their fire. Emily hurled the grenade.

The pulse grenade exploded in a blue flash, killing the turrets' systems and rendering them useless, instant junk.

"Here come the heavies!" Jin shouted.

Three Enclave soldiers had arrived; one of them was a Hellfire trooper.

"Take him out first!" Ghost yelled. "Watch out for the incinerator!"

Mark fired his grenade launcher. The shot missed the Hellfire trooper, but the explosion hit on of the troopers and ripped his arm off. Dunn finished him off with a shot to the neck.

A blast of fire hissed past Mara, almost singing her hair. Ghost took aim and fired a single shot.

It didn't hit the trooper.

But Ghost never missed. He had shot the incinerator's fuel tank.

The weapon exploded, coating the Hellfire trooper in burning fuel. It wouldn't kill him quickly, but he had no weapon and couldn't see.

Mara moved closer and killed him with two blasts from her shotgun.

The second trooper moved to bash her with his weapon.

Mara saw him coming and moved aside, the trooper hit the wall instead of her head. Mara simply drew her 44 and fired it into the Enclave soldier's head.

Even his advanced helmet was no match for a 44 magnum round. The bullet tore a hole through blood, bone and metal, splattering the wall with gore.

"Keep moving!" Colby barked. "We've got Halley trapped."

"Let's hope so." Mark took the lead again. "He's probably waiting for us."

The next lab lacked the cylinders, but it had a damaged UFO suspended over a flat concrete pad.

They ignored it and walked under the hovering craft, although Emily wondered how it could remain active after so many years.

They descended further into the base, entering a wider lab corridor lined with more tanks.

This one contained more tanks. Inside were odd looking creatures that were mutated animals.

A failed cazador prototype was dead inside one. Its wings were too small to support its bulk and one of its eyes hadn't developed.

"Ugly SOB." Dunn muttered.

"You won't like this one then." One of the NCR troopers gestured at another tank with his rifle.

There was a Deathclaw inside. They had been made for stealth, but the camouflage had failed.

This one was switching randomly, despite the fact that the Deathclaw was dead. One of its arms was withered and useless, its head was lopsided.

They passed more failed monsters; a nightstalker, a lobotomite, a cyborg, a Super Mutant, a ghoul soldier and a disgusting hybrid of alien and human bodies.

"We've seen those before." Jin pointed at the lobotomite and the cyborg. "They were in vault 225; maybe they were connected in some way."

"Come up with theories later." Mark told him. "We need to hurry."

He heard a heavy footstep.

One of the NCR soldiers managed to let out a brief scream before his head was removed from his shoulders.

"My God!" Dunn breathed. "Deathclaw!"

How the gargantuan monster had crept up behind them was a mystery, but Deathclaws were known for that.

It slashed again and impaled a second trooper with its long claws.

They opened fire on the creature. The Deathclaw flung the body of the trooper at them. It knocked Mark and Jin over. As they pushed the bloody remains away, Mark heard another scream and saw the Deathclaw cut the third trooper in half.

"Aim for its head!" Ghost shouted. "Concentrate your fire, now!"

They all aimed and fired, their weapons made the corridor flash with light and echo with thunder.

The Deathclaw, for all its strength, failed to withstand the hail of bullets and laser fire. It dropped to the ground, riddled and bleeding heavily.

Mark heard a low growl. "Incoming!"

He ducked as a second Deathclaw, coming from behind them again, swung its hand.

This one was much bigger, with darker skin and longer horns.

An Alpha Deathclaw. Halley really wanted them dead.

Colby shouted at it and opened fire, his automatic rifle was powerful, but he had already used more than half of his clip.

The rifle clicked. Out of bullets.

Colby swore and reached for his revolver. But the Deathclaw was too quick.

It lunged forwards and grabbed the unlucky Ranger, crushing him in its hand.

"Colby!" Dunn cried, firing his carbine at the creature.

The Deathclaw opened its mouth and sank its teeth into Colby. The Ranger stopped screaming abruptly.

There was the sickening sound of flesh tearing before the Deathclaw ripped Colby's head and most of his upper torso away. It threw the remains down and roared.

It charged, the survivors jumped out of its way as it thundered past.

It turned and picked a target. It sized Emily up as its next snack.

It roared again, showering the corridor with blood and saliva, filling it with rank breath.

Emily activated VATS, acting quickly. She primed a plasma grenade.

Her chances were slim according to VATS, but she took them anyway.

She threw the grenade.

As VATS had predicted, her plan didn't work. Not as well as she had intended anyway.

The Deathclaw grabbed the grenade. It exploded and blew off a large portion of its hand, only leaving two claws.

The Deathclaw howled in pain.

Jin ran up to it and jumped, grabbing its horns for support. He slammed his power fist into its head repeatedly.

The Deathclaw fell to its knees, dazed and battered.

Jin jumped off its head as Mark approached. The Deathclaw looked just in time to see him squeeze the trigger of his carbine and send a hail of bullets into its face.

The Deathclaw jerked and fell, face down, onto the metal floor.

"Damn those things!" Dunn kicked the body. "We can't go on like this."

"We have no choice, Dunn." Mara retorted. "This has to end today, or you'll be seeing this all over the Mojave."

"Listen," Emily held up her hand for silence. "Can you hear that?"

It was a sound like thunder and lightning. Mark realised that the floor was thrumming and vibrating.

"We're close." He murmured. "Dunn, head back up to the surface and rally your men. We'll deal with Halley."

"But…" Dunn began.

"No buts, Dunn!" Mark cut him off. "You need to evacuate, we can't leave that device in the Enclave's hands."

"How do you plan to destroy it then?"

"We'll think of something." Mark shrugged. "Only if we can't get it back." He glanced at his friends. "Are you all with me?"

They nodded. Nobody was backing out now.

"Good." Mark reloaded his carbine. "Follow me. We're ending this together."

* * *

_**I think you know what's next. Reviews would be appreciated, as usual. **_

_**Let me know if you think the gore's too much, I can tone it down. **_

_**I'm not one of these people who believes in conspiracy theories, but this is **_**Fallout_, Area 51 seemed to be an appropriate place for an Enclave base and the final battle. _**


	19. The last stand

_**Time for the final battle. I've spent a lot of time planning this, so I hope it works.**_

* * *

They had descended even deeper into Area 51, killing any Enclave soldiers who tried to stop them.

They had found their way to the control room, no doubt full of soldiers or traps, and were preparing to enter.

Mark unslung his grenade launcher. "Jin, open the door." He instructed. "I'll fire a grenade. Ready?"

Jin's hand hovered over the button. He nodded and pressed it.

Mark fired a grenade through the opening. He heard a scream and saw an armoured body hit the wall.

Mara went in first, firing her shotgun at anything that moved. Jin followed her in and punched an officer trying to flank them.

The control room was soon clear. The Enclave soldiers within were dead.

"Emily, hack the terminals." Mark pointed at them. "See what you can find. Ghost, check the door ahead for traps."

Emily quickly hacked into the computers. "Mark, I've found something."

He walked over to see what it was. "I'm listening."

"The device we found _was _built using alien tech." She told him. "According to this, the Enclave is trying to make it into a weapon. It can be overloaded by tesla technology."

"Now we know what Halley's planning." Mark nodded. "Are there any tesla weapons here?"

Emily typed a command into the computer.

A large compartment in the wall opened and revealed a long weapon of some kind, glowing blue.

"That's a tesla cannon." Emily explained. "Mark, according to this, overcharging the device will… well; they still don't know how much damage it will cause."

"Okay, it's a last resort." Mark nodded. "Take the cannon, keep it safe, we'll keep you covered."

Ghost came back. "It's safe." He announced. "But according to the signs, it leads straight to the reactor. That's probably where Halley is."

"I should have guessed." Mark murmured. "Check your weapons. This is it."

* * *

He led them towards the reactor. He could feel his heart thumping.

Halley was an officer, his days as a soldier had ended years ago. So why was Mark afraid?

He glanced at his friends. They steeled themselves for whatever lay ahead and nodded.

He opened the door.

The room ahead was dark, apart from the large tube with lightning flashing upwards. He couldn't see anything.

The room was still huge though, he could see large pieces of equipment, some of them human, some of them alien, around the room. There were also heavy crates and containers inside the chamber.

They walked inside slowly.

The door sealed behind them. There was no turning back.

"So," Halley's voice was amplified by something. "You have come for me."

"There's nowhere left to run, Halley." Mark called. "Show yourself!"

"I don't think you understand what you are up against." Halley stated. "You should leave while you still can. This is your only chance, Mark, your only chance to save yourself and your companions."

"We're not backing down, Halley." Emily retorted.

"Yeah, show yourself, coward!" Mara goaded.

"We've killed your men, Halley." Ghost added. "The NCR is taking over. Area 51 is theirs."

"Stop hiding," Jin called. "There's no point anymore."

Halley was silent for a moment. "Tell me, Mark," he requested. "Why are you doing this? For the NCR? For caps?"

"You know why, Halley." Mark growled. "I'm no saviour, but I won't let the Enclave devastate the Mojave. You're finished, Halley. Surrender or we will kill you."

"I will not surrender." The lights began to activate. "We fight to the death, Kelson. Now you will learn why the Enclave should be feared."

The final set of lights came on. Halley was revealed to them, but not in the way they had expected.

He was inside a massive suit of black armour, armed with fearsome weapons. There were two Gatling lasers mounted under the arms, twin plasma casters on the right shoulder and a missile pod on the left shoulder.

Halley's face was hidden by a metal helmet mounted in the battle suit's collar, two red eyes glared at them. He was sitting inside the torso, protected by thick armour.

"I was never going to run." He declared. "Let's finish this, Kelson."

He stomped forwards, making the ground shake. Mark opened fire, but the bullets just bounced off Halley's armour.

"Move!" Ghost yelled.

Halley opened fire with the Gatling lasers, cutting a vicious swath of red fire, forcing them to take cover.

"Not so brave now, are you?" Halley goaded. "You were never a match for me!"

Emily hurled her last plasma grenade at Halley. The grenade enveloped part of the suit in a green flash.

There was a burn mark and some of the paint had flaked off, but that was all.

Halley turned and fired the plasma casters at her. They were modified to fire explosive bolts.

Emily threw herself out of the way as the bolts exploded. Ghost drew Halley's attention by firing his sniper rifle at his head. The bullets didn't penetrate, but Ghost knew what he was doing.

Mara had moved to flank Halley. As he stomped towards Ghost, she aimed the rocket launcher at him.

"Fire in the hole!" She warned before firing.

The rocket made Halley's suit stagger and had dented the armour. But it given away Mara's position.

Mara ran as Halley fired his Gatling lasers at her.

They needed to work together. Halley would crush them unless they used their strengths against him.

Emily activated VATS and fired at one of the Gatling lasers. The laser hit the weapon's casing.

Halley aimed the weapon at her, but it was slower to fire. Emily had caused some damage.

Emily hid behind one of the large crates as Halley opened fire with the damaged laser.

Mark fired a grenade at Halley, making his suit stumble slightly.

Halley turned the other laser on him. But that was part of the plan.

Jin leapt onto the back of the suit and climbed up. He began to smash his power first into the armour.

Halley steered the suit wildly, trying to dislodge him. But Jin clung on doggedly and continued to dent the armour.

Mara fired a 12ga pulse round at Halley's torso, disabling his systems temporarily.

Ghost fired his rifle again, hitting the face again. One of the eyes cracked slightly.

Halley reached up and tried to swat Jin off his head.

Jin avoided the fist and began to attack the plasma casters.

Halley reached up again. This time he hit Jin.

Jin yelped and fell to the ground. Blood was running from his nose and mouth.

Mara ran over and dragged him into cover before Halley tried to shoot or stand on him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Halley taunted. "I'm just getting started!"

Mara fired her last rocket. It hit Halley in the back.

There was a large dent and scorch mark, but it hadn't done enough damage.

Halley turned to fire at Mara.

A grenade hit him and he turned to see Mark throwing the empty launcher aside.

Halley aimed his rockets at Mark and fired.

Mark waited and then rolled aside at the right moment. The rockets blew the door open.

"Fall back!" Mark bellowed. "Get to the exit!"

He knew that there was no other way. They had to destroy the power source and hope that it killed Halley.

Ghost and Mara helped Jin to reach the exit. They didn't want to run and tried to join the fight. Emily paused at the door. She turned and ran towards the fight.

"Going somewhere?" Halley inquired. He fired his casters.

The bolts hit the ceiling. Rubble cascaded down and blocked the doorway.

Emily had been running back to help Mark when it had fallen. Now she was buried under concrete and steel.

Mark called her name and turned to see if he could find her.

That was a mistake.

Halley fired the casters at him. He had aimed away from him, just enough to knock him over.

Mark hit the ground heavily, bleeding from a head wound and dazed from the impact. His carbine was gone, thrown aside by the explosion.

Halley stomped over to him. "You were a good soldier, Mark." He aimed one of his lasers at his head. "But not good enough."

Mark waited for the weapon to vaporise him.

A lance of red hit Halley's visor. The light almost blinded him.

"Get away from him, you bastard!" Emily yelled. She was bleeding and bruised, but alive. She had loaded MFCs charged to maximum power into her rifle.

Halley took aim, laughing at her.

Mark drew his handgun and fired madly, diverting Halley's attention.

Halley lifted his leg to crush Mark.

Mark rolled aside as it came down, cracking the stone floor.

Emily moved to the side, aiming at Halley's plasma casters.

She activated VATS again and fired two shots.

She hit the EC packs both times. The weapons exploded.

Halley staggered; part of his suit had been blown off.

Mark had made his way behind him. He climbed onto the suit like Jin had done.

He aimed his handgun at the visor and opened fire. The bullets dented the armour this time.

Halley flailed at him, trying to dislodge him.

The third attempt managed, knocking Mark to the ground again.

"I should have let the Legion kill you," Halley spat. "But if you want something done, you do it yourself."

A blast of blue hit the suit. Emily had fired the tesla cannon.

There was silence for a moment. Halley wasn't moving.

Mark almost laughed. Emily had saved him yet again.

He heard the servos whirring. Halley was still alive. All Emily had done was disable his systems for a moment.

He reached down and grabbed Mark, holding him up and crushing him.

"Tell her to drop her guns." Halley demanded. "Or I will kill you."

Mark strained, feeling his bones cracking. "Emily…" he tried to call. "Shoot it! End this!"

"Everybody here will die if she does that." Halley stated. "Do you really want her to kill herself?"

They both heard the tesla cannon charging.

"You won't destroy the Mojave," Emily grated. "Because I'm going to destroy you!"

"For what?" Halley bellowed, turning to aim at her. Despite his power, he was too late.

"You know what for." Emily murmured. She squeezed the trigger.

The cannon fired. The energy punched through the cylinder and entered the surge of light.

Halley screamed something between a curse and a sob and dropped Mark. He ran to the cylinder, as if he could stop it from exploding.

Emily ignored him and grabbed Mark, dragging him behind one of the supercomputers.

"I'm sorry, Mark." Tears were flowing down her face.

Mark held her hand. "I'm not." He told her. "We did it."

Emily sobbed and leant down to kiss him one last time. "Yes, we did."

The reactor exploded.

Halley was instantly killed; the energy overloaded his suit and blew it apart. The ceiling began to collapse and bury the chamber. The electronics were sparking and exploding.

Area 51 began to collapse in on itself, like vault 225, filling its own grave.

* * *

Dunn had evacuated the remaining NCR troopers. Now they watched in awe as Area 51 fell.

When the chaos had ended, they began to inspect the ruins. The runway was a mess and the hangers had collapsed. But the ground was more or less stable.

The remaining Enclave troopers had either surrendered or fled. Dead NCR and Enclave troopers alike were buried in the rubble. Wreckage was everywhere.

Dunn couldn't see any sign of Mark or his companions. They had been the lowest level when the explosion had occurred.

They hadn't made it out.

"Troopers, search the area." He ordered. "Search for survivors."

"Nobody could have survived this, sir." A trooper protested.

"Do as I say!" Dunn barked. "Search the area. I don't care how long it takes, until I have survivors or bodies, we are not leaving this place."

He closed his eyes. Hsu would understand.

Dunn had never been a friend of Marks, but he had come to respect him recently.

He'd left the NCR. But he had built a much better team than Halley had, a deadly one that was held by loyalty.

If he had done that sooner, things might have been different.

Dunn helped the soldiers in their search; he even made the Enclave soldiers assist them.

If Mark had turned things around, had cared for people, then maybe Dunn could do it too.

"Sir!" A trooper called. "I found something!"

* * *

_**One last chapter to go. I hope you enjoyed that fight.**_

_**Sorry about the cliff-hanger for this chapter, but I need some drama.**_


	20. The aftermath

Dunn walked over to the vertibird sat next to the ruined runway. The NCR soldiers had stopped searching.

It was over.

"It's been a long day." He held out a bottle of water.

Ghost took it and gulped it down. "Yeah, it has."

Dunn held out two more bottles, courtesy of some dead Enclave officers.

Mara and Jin took them. The three of them were tired. Mara and Jin were sitting on some crates. Ghost was leaning against the NCR vertibird.

"Sorry about the damage." Ghost said. "They really totalled this place, just like vault 225."

"No need to apologise, Ghost." Dunn told him. "You've done an outstanding job. The Enclave won't recover from this."

"I guess you're right." Ghost nodded.

"What about Halley?" Mara asked. "Is he dead?"

"Very." Dunn answered. "That explosion was the power source, he didn't stand a chance."

Jin emptied his bottle and wiped the dirt off his face. "So it's over?"

"Yeah." Dunn replied. "I guess it is."

"I just thought that it would be…" Mara shrugged. "Better than this, if you know what I mean."

"I understand." Ghost said. "When are we leaving?"

"Soon." Dunn stated. "Take it easy, you've had a hell of a day." He walked off to talk to some NCR soldiers.

"That's putting it mildly." Mara muttered.

Ghost watched the wounded coming out of the NCR tents. They were temporary, they'd be gone soon and Area 51 would be a silent graveyard.

He finished off his water. "I could murder a beer."

"I think we could all do with one." Jin agreed. "And a long rest."

"It's a shame about Colby." Ghost stated. "I was beginning to like him."

"A lot of people died here today." Mara said. "I hope it was worth the price."

"Leave that to wiser people." Jin shrugged.

"What if _we _are the wiser people?" Ghost asked. "If it wasn't for us, then the NCR would be in the shit."

"Hsu offered us fifty thousand caps." Jin inspected his power fist. "Maybe he'll give us medals and tickets to California."

Ghost didn't respond. He was thinking about the day's events and what they would do next.

"Hey, Ghost." Mara nudged him. "Cheer up, give the happy couple a smile."

Ghost didn't need to be told. He smiled anyway.

Mark and Emily had just come out of one of the tents. Mark had his right arm in a sling and was limping; Emily had a bandage around her left shoulder and a splint for her fingers.

But they were both alive. They had been extremely lucky.

In a way, the rubble had protected them from the explosion. An NCR vertibird had detected their heat signatures and troopers had dug them out.

Mark and Emily sat down on another crate. They were both holding hands.

"So," Mark smiled. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"I vote vacation." Jin answered.

"Me too." Mara agreed.

"So do I." Ghost shrugged. "Let's have a day off getting shot at and blasting the Enclave."

"Sounds good to me." Emily nodded. "Where to though?"

"I don't know." Mark adjusted his sling. "Maybe a trip to Vegas. Maybe California."

"We'll talk about it on the way back." Ghost patted the vertibird. "Dunn's giving us a lift."

"Plus we'll have fifty thousand caps to spend when we get back." Jin added.

Mark considered. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he told them. "But are we all sticking together?"

"Of course, Boss." Ghost smirked. "We didn't go through all this just to abandon you now."

"Ghost is right." Mara said. "We could have left anytime we wanted to. What makes you think we're about to do so now?"

"Plus, we're a fun bunch." Jin added. "Tell you what, don't bother asking Emily that question, she can't let go of your arm, let alone your company."

He was right. Emily was leaning against Mark, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Let's get the drama over with." Ghost shrugged. "Are you two completely, madly and so on and so forth, in love with each other?"

Mark smiled. "Yeah, we are."

"Completely." Emily agreed.

"That settles it." Ghost announced. "Wherever we go next, we'd better get the lovebirds married sooner rather than later, nobody lives forever, not even ghouls like me."

"Steady on, Ghost." Mark told him. "We're walking wounded right now; I don't want to limp to a wedding."

"A vacation would be a good start." Emily said. "Let's relax first."

"Fine." Ghost accepted. "I hope we leave this place soon. The drinks are on me, courtesy of the NCR for a job well done."

Dunn walked over with two of his soldiers. "We're done here." He told them. "Hop in when you're ready and we'll fly back to Camp McCarran."

"If we have to sleep there again, get us proper beds." Mara said. "I think we deserve it."

"You deserve a lot more than that." Dunn stated. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. Are you all ready?"

Emily helped Mark into the vertibird. The others followed them inside, along with Dunn.

"Take us home, pilot." Dunn ordered. "As fast as you can."

"Yes sir." The pilot started up the rotors.

"At least we can enjoy this flight." Emily said.

"Makes a nice change." Ghost murmured. "What a day."

"Yeah, what a day." Mark agreed. "But we're safe now and soon we'll be much richer."

"And?"

"The drinks are on you, Ghost." Mark smirked. "We've got something to celebrate."

He was right. Despite everything they had been through, they had good reasons to celebrate.

Maybe they would help the NCR again. Maybe they would explore or just lead a quiet life.

There was little chance of the latter, but anything was possible.

Emily pecked Mark on the cheek. Mark didn't really care about the caps. He had already been rewarded.

They had found each other. That was more valuable than all the caps in the world.

The vertibird flew off into the night, heading back to the Mojave.

Operation Janus was over, finally. But their adventures were just beginning.

* * *

_**There it is; the end.**_

_**I had a lot of fun (and frustration due to writer's block) writing this. **_

_**My thanks to Kogouma, Frankus and Theluckyshot for reviews and support, this story would have ground to halt without your encouragement. **_


	21. Epilogue

"_And so it was that five wanderers, lost in a strange land, came together and formed what started as an uneasy alliance, soon to become an unshakeable bond of friendship. A soldier who once faced dishonour, a vault dweller who faced loneliness, a Ghoul with no goal except for survival, a drifter seeking an easy life and a tribal in self-imposed exile. _

_The five wanderers returned to New Vegas for a time, and enjoyed their much needed rest and recuperation. But this was not to last._

_As news of trouble reached them, they decided to travel to California, a safe haven for the time being. The misfits offered the help the NCR to repel the Legion, but because of the mayhem they had caused, for both the NCR's enemies and the NCR itself, their offer was refused._

_As Area 51 crumbled into ruin, the NCR rounded up the few surviving Enclave soldiers and questioned them before imprisoning them for a time. Halley's actions have shocked the NCR. Since his death, they have thoroughly investigated Halley's black ops division. Many operatives were interrogated in secret. Proven as spies or not, every member of Halley's division is now under surveillance. _

_In the wake of the attack on Area 51, Sergeant Dunn was commended for his actions and promoted. Ranger Colby's body was recovered from the ruins, he was given a military burial with full honours and a medal awarded posthumously. _

_Despite their heroic efforts in stopping the Enclave in Nevada, the misfits were condemned by the Followers of the Apocalypse and the Brotherhood of Steel. This was because they had destroyed valuable technologies in both the military Vault 225 and Area 51._

_Obviously, the five wanderers had incurred the wrath of Caesar. With the death of one of his best soldiers, Caesar decided not to relent and ordered all of his men to kill the wanderers on sight. _

_With no new power source, the NCR still has to rely on Hoover Dam, making it the focus of several factions in the Mojave Wasteland. One day Hoover Dam will fly the flag of a victor, but that will be decided by another. For now, the NCR still has the Legion to contend with._

_Mark Kelson now stands redeemed, at least in some eyes. Despite every loss, of his brother, his fellow soldiers, he continued to stand for the sake of his friends. He moved on, and after a few months in California, he asked Emily to marry him, and she agreed. This newfound happiness has given Mark strength, but the dangers of staying in NCR territory still worry him. Now his first priority is to ensure the safety of his friends._

_Emily Nicks spent two weeks wandering alone, almost convinced that she was completely alone. The day she met Mark and Ghost changed her life. With the remnants of her past laid to rest, Emily has left her old life in Vault 117 behind and has embraced life in the post-apocalyptic wastelands, broadening her knowledge of this new world. Her marriage to Mark delighted her; she found the one thing she had never expected to have: love. _

_Ghost put aside his past as an Enclave soldier, apart from his knowledge. He was no longer that man anyway. Now he has changed again, from a lone wanderer to a loyal companion. Ghost has his doubts about staying in California, where he and his friends, despite their actions, have few friends. Nevertheless, he knows who to trust now._

_Mara Lanning had never considered herself as a social person. Walking the wastes with four strangers brought out an unusual change in her. Mara struggled to stay in one place for a time, as a nomad by upbringing, but she persevered to stay with her friends. _

_Jin Irving began to change too. He started to womanise, gamble and drink less and less. It seemed that his new friends were having an influence on him. Although he remained restless, and often wondered about travelling again, there was always some excuse for staying._

_In the end, Colonel Hsu and General Oliver saw little point in classifying the missions to Vault 225 and Area 51; rumours were already flying among the troops. However, the stories were rarely believed. The files gathered by Halley resulted in suspicions being raised, but no questions were asked. _

_Now that the peace in the NCR and the Mojave is threatened, and as factions target them, the misfits turn their eyes north, to a new life and a fresh start. They have many roads left to travel and the fight for survival to contend with, because the struggle to survive in this world is a war without end. _

_And war… war never changes."_


End file.
